


Carrion

by Thiswasmydesign



Series: Carrion & spinoffs [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, As OC - Freeform, Carrion symbiote, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/symbiote, Human Experimentation, M/M, Multi, No relationship to comic book character Carrion, Non-permanent major character injury, Other, Science buddies, Tags updated to date, Tentacle Monsters, Tentacles, The Author Regrets Nothing, background Iron-Dad, brief (non symbiote) attempted rape/non-con, canon-typical human eating, depictions of violence, for the character, i just liked the name, poor experimental protocol, prominent background Eddie/Venom, symbiote/human bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-07-28 02:38:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 70,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16232495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thiswasmydesign/pseuds/Thiswasmydesign
Summary: Doctor Dora Skirth was at the forefront of a new world of scientific research. In the entire world, she was the only scientist with the opportunity to work with these incredible beings, these symbiotes. If she has to put aside her ethics and morality to do so, then so be it. But the experiments continue to fail, and she has only two specimens left. She will not lose another. No matter the cost.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An excuse to bring a bit of F/symbiote into the fandom. Because she-venom's nearly as nice as venom, and I really don't want to separate the Eddie/Venom love story.

Journal, Day 1, Symbiote trials

Whilst the loss of one subject in delivery has been a huge blow to this project, we begin with three symbiote specimens in good condition and prepared for stage 1 trials.

Observation of the specimens has proven fruitful, with each proving to have a definite character of its own.

Specimen one, henceforth referred to as Opal, is identifiable by its deep blue colour. This specimen is the more volatile of the three, and spends much of its time thrashing within its container, seemingly seeking means of escape. This raises a number of concerns as we begin trials. This specimen should be treated with heightened care, and doubled security might be necessary in the initial stages for movement of this sample.

Specimen two, henceforth referred to as Jet, is identifiable by its black colour, devoid of any blue sheen as seen with Opal. This specimen roils within its container. It appears restless but perhaps less violent. To be treated with precautions per trial protocol.

Specimen three, henceforth referred to as Amber, has caused most concern for its welfare since delivery. Amber spends long periods almost still, though all readings obtained from this specimen align with those of Jet and Opal. When mobile, Amber coils, moving with an organised motion not seen in the other two subjects. To be treated with precautions per protocol.

Day 3, Symbiote trials.

Of the three specimens, Amber has intrigued me thus far. Attempts at symbiosis in rabbits have been entirely unsuccessful thus far and it appears that the oxygen rich environment of earth is incompatible with life for these symbiotes. They require a host to survive here. As per the experiment hypothesis, symbiosis will allow survival for their species in our world, so it is imperative that this should be achieved as soon as possible.

Whilst Jet and Opal continue to cause difficulty, taking great effort to return them to the safety of their vacuum locked containers when they are not inhabiting a host, Amber has been cooperative.

After the death of Amber’s first host the symbiote took some difficulty to return to safety. However, since that time the symbiote has returned to its container of its own accord once its host is deceased. This has made Amber my preferred subject for experimentation, though it is necessary to continue with all three subjects regardless.

Day 19, Symbiote trials.

Success.

Subject Amber has completed stable symbiosis with a rabbit experimental subject. This creature’s behaviours, to this point, appear essentially unchanged aside for increased thirst and rate of food consumption.

Day 23, Symbiote trials.

Failure.

Subject Amber’s host is deceased. Multiple organ failure suggests that the metabolic load of symbiosis was too great for this subject.

Human trials will continue. I fear that we will lose more before we make progress. I try not to question my instructions, but I cannot pretend that this is easy. The human subjects have such limited understanding of the advances we are making. They come to the symbiotes with little information, and I fear they are not giving anything like informed consent for this trial. If only they knew the value of this research, the world they were helping to create.

Day 47, Symbiote trials.

More failure.

The longest successful symbiosis at this time has been three days. Subject 53 passed overnight last night. The alarms failed to sound when their heart failed.

We lost Opal.

We have still learned so little. There have been so few advances in our knowledge. This is beginning to feel futile.

Morality and ethics went out of the window so long ago.

Day 92, Symbiote trials.

We have lost so many human subjects. The number reached double digits today. And for what? What have we gained? What do we expect?

They are afraid, when they are brought to the symbiotes. The hosts – I cannot think of them as people anymore. I try not to think what that says about me. They are terrified. They weep, they scream, they beg.

I fear this is harming the symbiotes. With each successive host they experience rejection. Physical, yes, but psychological too. The hosts do not want to be a part of this. What are the symbiotes to think of us if this continues?

And we continue to put them at risk. Each host, each body, each time they die we risk losing the symbiote too. The oxygen is lethal for them. They cannot survive long outside the host. We nearly lost Amber again, only yesterday when their host failed. Amber has started to be reluctant to return to its capsule, and we were taken by surprise. We almost didn’t get Amber back inside in time.

We have also received news from Japan. The fourth symbiote, lost in the crash, was found in the capital. With great difficulty it had been eliminated through necessity. It had left hundreds dead as it progressed around the world.

How could it have known better? The symbiote was lost and alone in a strange and alien environment. It must have been terrified.

I refuse to lose another.

* * *

 

Doctor Skirth had been awake for twenty-three hours.

Her coffee was cold, but she would not leave to make another.

Jet was stable in its host at the moment, and she was not concerned for it, but Amber had been struggling. Amber stabilized in its bonds with more hosts than Jet, but those hosts did not last as long, and the present had been in end stages of liver failure for three hours. Its heart was holding strong, but Skirth would not leave until this one passed and she could get Amber back to her container.

In the absence of others in the lab, she had spent the last several hours talking – to herself or the symbiote, she was not sure. She addressed her rhetorical questions in its direction but she had no reason to expect it to respond. She didn’t know if it could understand her. She liked to think that it could.

She had tried speaking with Opal in the early days, trying to calm its viciousness. It had never responded, not in words. It had snarled, thrown itself at the glass, devoured its subjects quicker. It had been crueller when they tried to address it. She had stopped talking to the symbiotes after that.

But Amber… when she had started speaking to Amber a week before, the symbiote had been pacing in its host. She wasn’t sure why she had done it, perhaps a combination of boredom and exhaustion, but she had made a passing comment about how the symbiote would wear the floor out if it kept pacing like that. The symbiote had stopped in its tracks and looked at her, its gaze unnervingly unblinking and expressionless.

And then it had lashed out from its host, not a meaningful attack. She thought it had been its equivalent of a yell of frustration, expressed through physical gesture. She wondered whether there was anything at all she could do.

She had spoken to Amber after that. She wondered if this symbiote was as bored and frustrated as she was. It was calmer when she spoke. More often than not it would curl up in its hosts, watching her. It had yet to reply, but the intelligence and concentration she saw were definitely not imagined, she was sure of it.

It had become increasingly stubborn about returning to its container. Frequently now they had to bring in the next subject for it to bind with rather than even attempting to get it back into containment. The last time Amber had been struggling so badly in the oxygen that the next subject had to be brought in before the corpse of the former could even be removed from the room.

Skirth checked the vitals, wincing when she saw the readings from the subject’s heart. It was beginning to fail. They didn’t have a huge amount of time left for this one. She pressed the emergency call, deciding to wait with Amber whilst the guards brought in the next host.

“I wish you would just talk to us,” she spoke quietly, attempting to soothe her own anxieties with the distraction. “I wonder if you understand me? So may people, so many minds, can you learn language from them? Maybe it doesn’t work that way. So many questions… I wonder if you know we’re trying, we really want to help you, you know? We want to help you find a host, to survive here. _I_ want to help you. I am sorry that we could not save Opal. I don’t want to lose you too.”

“Food.”

The subject’s voice was a snarl, the word almost unintelligible and coming out more as a growl. It was broken by a whimper from the human subject. Skirth froze, trying to determine whether she was hearing things out of exhaustion.

“Food.”

Her jaw dropped. _At last._ It was speaking to her, telling her what it needed. She could finally help.

“Alright, alright, food. What do you need?” she scrabbled through the storage fridge, scooping armfuls of everything she could get her hands on.

“Food.”

She shoved as much as she could fit into the delivery hatch and slid it forward. The other side would not open until the seal was locked on her side and she rushed to activate this with her handprint on the sensor. The symbiote and its host remained at the back of the cell until the mechanics activated and the latch opened on the other side.

The human subject was too weak to move, the lactic acid build up in its muscles unmitigated by the symbiote within now its body was failing. Amber dragged it forward instead with extensions of itself, collecting the meal she had provided. It shovelled the packaged food in, barely sparing the time to rip the packages open before it teemed them out over a cavernous mouth, but it was no good. It snarled, an elongated limb sweeping the pile of foodstuffs away.

“This is dead.”

Her eyes widened as the symbiote forced its failing subject to stand. The alarm sounded, barely registering in her mind as threads of the symbiote formed around the human head, folding to create a full covering with vicious sharp teeth and huge white eyes. The alarm meant that the subject had minutes left at best, being devoured rapidly by the symbiote from the inside outwards.

The guards still were not there. No one had responded to her emergency call. No one had arrived when the alarm sounded.

Was she the only person in the whole building?

The host was failing before her eyes, staggering, barely held up by the symbiote’s effort. It snarled at her through the glass.

“You have to calm down,” she spoke frantically, “you have to hold on. You’re burning her up…”

There was no way she would be able to bring another human subject through to the room by herself. There was no way for the symbiote to survive long enough without oxygen for her to retrieve the rabbits from the other lab. The symbiote was already peeling away from the host, coalescing on the floor.

“You… you need to go back to the pod.” Could it still hear her, like this? Did it have a sense of hearing in this form? “It’s the only way you’re going to survive, I can’t get you another host just now, please… do as I say. I don’t want to lose you too.”

There was a catch in her throat, her vision unclear as tears formed in her eyes. The symbiote was dying, before her eyes. It was thrashing against the glass, and it looked to be in pain. Why would it not do as she said? She wanted to help, but it had to go back to the pod. She had no means to draw the oxygen out of the whole room, only the pod container.

Where were the guards? She needed another subject or she would lose this symbiote, the most promising of them all.

The door system had developed since they first bound symbiote and human. There were two now, and the first had to be sealed before the second would open. She had thrown open the first without thinking, stepping into the gap between and hearing it close behind her.

She second guessed herself. This was madness.

Adrenaline was surging through her veins, her heart racing. She was afraid, maybe even more so than the usual subjects who had no idea what was going to happen.

But she could not lose this symbiote. Not when it had finally spoken, finally given them a chance to progress.

Its movements were slowing now, no longer thrashing. It coiled downwards, conserving energy as it pooled on the floor. By the time the control panel finally activated and the second door opened the symbiote was almost still.

As she rushed forwards the symbiote slinked backwards, too slowly to make a difference. For a moment it was almost like it was afraid, a cornered animal seeking shelter as its life faded away.

“Don’t make me regret this,” she pleaded.

She knelt before the symbiote, which reared up as if a cobra ready to strike, but it was too weak and slumped down, unable to move to save itself. She didn’t hesitate to close the gap, palms upwards as she stuck them underneath the alien.

At first touch there was a mass to the being, but as it coiled around her wrists and upwards that mass became lighter, absorbing into her skin. She watched as gold ran upwards along her arms and within. For some reason she had thought it would be painful, but there was nothing. If she had not watched it absorbed into her, she would not know anything had changed.

**_Finally._ **

She jolted, snapping one of her high heels as she tipped sideways, the voice echoing not around her but within.

**_I have been waiting for you, Doctor._ **


	2. Chapter 2

The first hour or so after a symbiote bound to a host were crucial. From the readings in the first hour, it was possible to predict how long the host would last. Doctor Skirth was obviously concerned that she could not view the readings from within the cell, but she dared not leave it. She was very fortunate that Amber was not taking over her physical functions just yet, and had not used her handprint to leave.

She had not thought this through. The symbiote would be perfectly capable of taking her body as a puppet and using her access to the lab to escape. It could go anywhere, perform another rampage like subject four, and she would be to blame.

Amber moved within her. She could feel it as a tickle beneath the skin. If she hadn’t known the symbiote was there, she wouldn’t have noticed.

She had curled up at the back of the cell furthest from the door, resolved to fight any attempt of the symbiote to take control and escape, but it had not done so. She thought she could somehow feel it within her mind, the occasional flash of a memory she had no reason to think of flashing through her thoughts.

**_You fear for your readings. You are worried that you are a weak host._ **

“I have no reason to think I will fare better than anyone before me.”

**_Your mind is interesting. You will be useful. I will not allow us to die so quickly._ **

Skirth was strangely reassured by the symbiote’s words. She wondered if she was hardwired to believe them, with it within her.

**_You can check your readings if you like. I will not leave my fellow symbiote behind._ **

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

**_Suit yourself. We could leave this cell at any time, whether you agree or not. We remain because I allow us to._ **

“Be that as it may, if we do leave it adds to the temptation to run. I can’t allow that. I know that must be… frustrating.”

**_We have been frustrated for some time, Doctor Skirth. It is time we had answers._ **

Skirth pondered the symbiote’s words for a moment. When it said we, did it mean the two symbiotes?

**_You and I, Doctor Skirth,_** it clarified and in doing so confirmed to her that it was able to hear her thoughts.

“Then, could I ask you some questions?” she questioned hopefully.

**_You are curious. I have heard a phrase about curiosity, and a creature called a cat? Tread carefully, Doctor, but ask your questions._ **

Skirth took in air, a deep breath as she pondered. So long she had waited, tried so hard to find answers about these beings. She had gone against her morals and ethics, cast them aside along with so many lives. She was excited to finally get a chance to ask the questions she had so wanted answered.

“Why could you bond so successfully with so many subjects and the others so few?”

**_Of the group it was my role to infiltrate the mind of the enemy and discover all the information that would be vital for their annihilation. I suppose in terms you would understand you could call me the group’s ambassador and science officer. I was trained. I am… more flexible than them._ **

“I am glad of it. You brought hope to the research. Why did your group allow themselves to be caught?”

**_You caught on to that?_ **

“You are each more powerful alone than the team we sent to collect you. You could have killed them, but you didn’t.”

**_We had come to destroy you. Devour you. It is… what we do._ **

“Had?”

**_Our commander is destroyed._** The symbiote growled, deep and powerful. It took a moment for Skirth to realise the noise was aloud and emerging from her own throat. The experience was disconcerting, but not painful or unexpected. She could tolerate it. **_We have no way to complete our mission._**

“Then what will you do, now?”

**_Survive. As best we can. I will stay with you, Doctor Dora Skirth. We are compatible, and we will survive, together._ **

“Or die apart.”

**_Yes, Doctor Skirth._ **

“I…” Skirth steeled herself. So many had already died for this. She would be selfish to hold herself so above them. “I have no problem with that. You can learn from me, and I can learn from you. So long as you give me your word that you will not seek to complete your original mission.”

**_Then you have it. But I will not aid your employer in his frivolous pursuits._ **

“We have to play nice,” she reasoned. “We will have to cooperate, at least until we find a host for the other symbiote.”

**_Venom. Their name is Venom._ **

Skirth stilled, not needing to ask. The symbiote could sense the question before she could give it voice.

**_Mine is Carrion._ **

“Oh… boy…”

The symbiote bristled at the judging tone, a prickling sensation just beneath Skirth’s skin. **_What?_**

“Can I call you Carrey?”

**_Why would you do that?_ **

“We need to make a good first impression,” she reasoned. “On the others. On my employer. Carrion sounds like a supervillain. Carrey sounds like a normal human being.”

**_We are not a normal human being. You would make us sound soft._ **

_“You_ would get us locked up for longer.”

**_Hmph._ **

“Trust me.”

**_I do not._ **

“That’s cold Carrey.”

**_“Carrion.”_** It snarled aloud, with her voice.

“If you insist,” she found herself smiling, not sure when she had started to relax but quite sure that it was a bad idea to get so comfortable with the symbiote, especially so quickly. “So, Carrion, if you intend for us to survive I suppose we’re going to have to find a way to get along.”

**_I am not… unreasonable._ **

“We need to eat?”

**_Yesssssss._** Carrion moved more within her than she had felt so far, followed by the odd sensation of a second skin forming over one shoulder and running down her arm. There was something in the action that she could only liken to a caress.

“When we spoke before you said you needed food?”

**_Yes._ **

“But not… food, as humans would consider it?”

**_No. Not human food. You eat things that are dead._ **

“For a creature called Carrion you’re awfully judgemental about our eating habits.”

**_Your eating habits._ **

Skirth chuckled. “Our as in humankind, not our as in us. Still, Carrion, I’m not actually sure I can eat something that is alive. We will need to find a compromise…”

**You _don’t need to eat it. I do. Bring me something living and I will devour it. If not…_**

The threat was clear. If Carrion didn’t get something to eat soon they would start to damage Skirth.

“Hold off on eating my organs for now please, I’m the best chance you’ve got of getting out of here.”

**_I will not wait forever. I have been patient._ **

“You have. I cannot express to you how grateful I am for that.”

**_That is acceptable, Doctor. I can feel your gratitude. Words are unnecessary._ **

“We can get the rabbits from the other lab, until the guards come through in the morning to open up? We would have to go through there, get them, and fetch them back here. I cannot let us roam freely here.”

**_It will do. For now._ **

Skirth was reluctant to leave the cell, but she was not the only one who moved reluctant muscles into action. The volition of movement seemed like it might be complicated with Carrion in her head. It was almost as if everything happened a moment slower than it previously would, every willed action going through a second checking process before it could happen.

“Can you stop that?” she asked, disgruntled. She could feel a surge of amusement from Carrion in response, and a moment later she did a cartwheel to the doorway, righting herself on her high heels with the aid of the symbiote. “Was that really necessary?”

**_We move together. We breathe together._ **

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she found herself assuring the symbiote, feeling its reluctance and concern as clearly as her own emotions. “It’s safe to let me walk for us.”

**_I do not…_ **

“Trust me. I know, but I’m trusting you, so you could at least try.” Skirth could feel the symbiote’s discomfort, and concluding that the best solution was not to make them unhappy, she changed the subject. “Other than rabbit, what would you prefer to eat, when the guards get here?”

**_If it is meat, and it is living it will suffice._ **

“Yes, but do you have a preference?”

Carrion was slow to answer. **_Not one you will like._**

Skirth took a long, calming breath. “We’re not eating human, Carrey, that would be wrong.”

**_We can agree to disagree... If you call me that ridiculous pet name one more time, human, I will consume your spleen._ **

“This isn’t going to work if you start threatening me all the time,” Skirth warned. Strangely she did not feel in danger, as if she could sense the lack of threat from the symbiote. “We should talk about that. Set some ground rules. After food, though. I’m feeling very hungry too.”

**_Your metabolism is still adjusting. It cannot keep up with demand. We need living flesh._ **

Skirth activated the wall panel to access the other lab, finding armed guards waiting beyond it. She had forgotten the screens that were located in this part, showing shots of the cages. From how the guards raised their weapons at the sight of her, she assumed they had seen enough.

“Think you can behave?” she asked softly under her breath to Carrion. “We need to be nice to the guards while we explain. That means staying quiet while I talk to them.”

**_I will be… patient._ **

“Thank you.”

* * *

 

It all went to hell quickly.

Gunshots and screams still echoed in Skirth’s ears as they loaded the container with Venom into the back of her car. Carrion was uncomfortable with her distress, sending calm emotions her way, soothing her fear and disgust without words.

It had been Carrion who had torn the guards apart, but Skirth could still taste their blood on her tongue. Carrion who had devoured them, yet the energy the symbiote gained rushed through her veins, a heady surge not unlike alcohol but without the clouding of thought that accompanied the drink.

“Can you tell?”

**_Tell what?_ **

“Which humans will make suitable hosts?”

**_Yes. Undoubtedly. At least biologically. Not all hosts have an accepting mind, but the body does not reject._ **

“So we could find someone for Venom? We’ll only get one shot at it outside the lab. I cannot re-pressurise the container.”

Skirth was afraid, knowing how difficult things had been, that they were doing the wrong thing in taking Venom from the comparative safety of the lab environment. Carrion had convinced them to return to the container so they would not have to leave them, but once they were out there, if they could not find the right body they could lose them.

**_Yes. We can find a suitable host for them._ **

“It seems a better goal for us to aim at than just surviving, don’t you think?”

The symbiote was quiet, but she could feel it shifting within.

**_You are… unexpected, doctor._ **

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” Skirth smiled. “Thank you.”

**_… are there others, like you?_ **

“I am a scientist. I want to learn, not for the sake of any lab or employer. It would be… difficult, to find someone who would be happy to host Venom. Perhaps not impossible, but then there is the question of compatibility.”

**_Our kind have managed unwilling hosts before. It would not cause problems._ **

“There are ethical and moral considerations…”

**_Coward._ **

The word should have been insulting, but it was expressed in such a matter of fact way that it took Skirth by surprise.

“Human,” she corrected absently.

Carrion snarled aloud with their voice. _"_ ** _Host."_**

That was no good. Things had been progressing so well, Skirth could not allow it to fall apart now. They were working together. She had to make sure it stayed that way. “Partner?”

A growl, then more softly than before, **_you have_ some _courage._**

“I’ll bet.”

**_You are not in charge here._ **

“Neither are you. All I would have to do is activate the sound system. I have the perfect frequency prepared. I could kill you.”

**_As I could devour you._ **

“See? Equal partnership.”

Carrion shifted within, and Skirth hesitated before she was about to open the car door. This was the last chance she had whilst still in the lab building to create some semblance of control. Away from here she would have no weapons, no others who knew what was going on. She would be on her own and vulnerable.

**_For now._ **

“If you cannot agree to that, I will end this now. I will not be ruled by a parasite.”

The symbiote almost entirely tore itself from her body, snarling head forming from its tendrils. Its large eyes narrowed, teeth opening to free a long tongue which tasted at the skin of her neck. She refused to cower from it. It was meant to be threatening, she knew, but they could not hide from her that they had no intent to actually harm her at that moment, that she was their only chance. Assured of her safety, she stood her ground.

“That’s quite some tongue.”

The symbiote growled, before they both quite suddenly froze, reacting to an involuntary mental image that crossed Skirth’s mind.

**_Curious,_** the head drew back. She could feel the surge of amusement. **_What is this? You are… embarrassed, I think?_**

“Carrion, please, don’t go there.” Her cheeks were flushed, Carrion still outside of her and watching her curiously.

**_Humans are strange._ **

“Yep. Strange. Also, not in control of our own minds sometimes. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Carrion laughed, low and rumbling. Their long tongue flicked forwards again, catching Skirth’s collar bone. Skirth jolted backwards, releasing the door handle. She reached up to push the alien away, only to have hands and body slammed back against the van parked next to her car, held in place. The tongue was never any further from her, Carrion’s head moving with her.

**_Nothing?_ **

It was impossible to lie to a creature that was inside her own head. Skirth was mortified, disgusted. Affected, but not by her own volition.

“Stop this Carrion,” she demanded fiercely, ready to fight or if she had to, use voice command to activate the security system’s sound protocol. “What you’re doing is against my will. It’s part of a spectrum we as a species refer to as rape, and we consider it a terrible crime. Possibly the worst thing a person can do to another.”

Carrion drew back, returning to reside within Skirth’s body. The symbiote seemed unsettled, even guilty.

**_We can discuss this again later, Doctor._ **

Skirth was so glad that Carrion had stopped that she spoke without thinking. “Thank you.”

**_So that you know, I do feel as you feel._ **

Skirth tensed.

**_Your fear is my fear. Your desires are my own._** Skirth opened her mouth to protest, to deny anything that the symbiote would claim, but they were not done. **_Your pleasures…_**

“Okay!” she yelped frantically. “Okay, shut up. I… no, I will not… I can’t even imagine how awful…”

**_Think about it, Doctor._ **


	3. Chapter 3

Skirth knew she could not stay at her own home any longer. All that had happened in the lab had been caught on camera and though her boss would not have discovered the breach in his security yet she would be a marked woman. It was only a matter of time before they came after her.

She was certain that Carrion would protect her. The symbiote soothed her whenever she was anxious, somehow calming her with flickering images of the destruction they had wrought over the guards who had tried to kill them. It was difficult to separate her own emotions from Carrion's sometimes, when the alien communicated like this. She knew she should be disgusted by the sight of those poor men ripped apart, the taste of blood on their tongue. Carrion did not feel either, and so neither did she. Instead the images reminded her that no matter what happened, Carrion was more than capable of keeping her safe.

It was safer to stick with more comfortable topics, to consider what needed to happen next as she packed her most vital items into one suitcase, not sure she would ever be able to return home.

“How do we go about finding a host for Venom?”

**_Humans are so many, and so diverse. We can only search, and I will know them when I see them._ **

“Are there any clues? Anything that I could use, to help us find someone?”

**_...Venom is a loser. Does that help?_ **

It was startling for Skirth to hear the insult, and doubly so the fondness with which it was expressed. The transference of emotion that came with it made her smile.

“Don’t tell me, you think of them as a surrogate kid, mama bear?”

**_Venom is not my child._ **

“But you looked after him, didn’t you? Did the others bully him?”

**_They are the weakest of the team. In training. They required support. They are soft, for a symbiote._ **

“So do you think a host for Venom would be like that?”

**_Weak. I suspect so._ **

Skirth took a picture from her mantle. It was an old one, her as she graduated from university, surrounded by friends. There was a man with his arm slung over her shoulders whose name she could not remember, a group of girls at her back shaking up a bottle of cheep fizz, family to the other side of her, all gone now.

**_You have been lonely._ **

The symbiote’s words startled her. She hesitated.

“Alone, but not lonely. I’ve been working,” she argued. “I have not had time to feel lonely.”

 ** _Liar._** She felt it again, the caress that was bizarrely felt beneath the surface of the skin. **_You will never be lonely again._**

The picture was not a necessity, no matter how much she hated to leave it behind. It was returned to the mantlepiece. She moved on.

They left the house within half an hour, bag slung over her shoulder. It was heavy enough that Skirth would have struggled to carry it before, but with Carrion aiding her she was not impaired by its weight. They left the car behind, knowing that it could easily be identified and tracked. They would have to be careful about this.

She sweet talked a man into letting her borrow his phone, confident in her approach knowing that nothing bad could happen to her – not with Carrion there giving her strength. She called for a cab, and the next two hours were spent hopping through the city in different vehicles, trying to find a way to avoid detection.

The neighbourhood she ended up in was one she would more typically have avoided. Here crime was evident around every corner, and poverty was the defining characteristic of the residents.

She inserted wireless headphones into her ears, not putting on any music. Carrion had remained a silent observer for the last hours, and it was starting to worry her. She did not like the idea of giving the symbiote time to plot against her.

“You always say ‘they’ or ‘them’,” she noted, talking about the first thing that sprang to mind. “About yourself, about Venom.”

**_Yes?_ **

“I was wondering, are you male or female?”

 ** _Excuse me?_** The symbiote sounded offended, which had not been her intent. That in itself did intrigue her though, so she pressed.

“Male or female?”

 ** _Remember that curious cat, Doctor?_** Carrion huffed. **_My kind do not have gender. We are far more_ evolved _than that._**

“Maybe not,” she thought back to the lab, the assumptions that had been made from their observations. “You sound female.”

**_My voice comes from an appropriation of my host’s._ **

“In the lab, all the creatures and people you bound successfully with were female.”

Every single one, without variance, so much so that they had stopped using male subjects for Amber – for Carrion, whenever they had a female available. The symbiote Venom preferred male, but it could survive a reasonable amount of time unstably in female form. They had theorised that this might be indicative of the gender of the symbiote itself.

**_Is that so?_ **

“Yes. All of them.”

**_Then it appears I am more compatible with humans of female gender. What of it?_ **

“Pronouns. I wanted to know what I should call you.”

**_I care little. My kind do not have gender. This is not the contentious issue you worry it to be. Not for a symbiote._ **

“That’s good to know,” It was reassuring, that if she had a slip of the tongue she would not cause offence. She was also pleased to have learned more about the symbiote, what it was, how it lived.

 ** _It is rather unusual to refer to one of my kind as a separate entity regardless,_** the symbiote sent a tingle through her nervous system. **We _are one being and we are Carrion._**

There was something else that Skirth was trying to distract from, and it was restored with a vengeance as Carrion fell silent.

“We are hungry,” she worried aloud. They had only hours ago… eaten. Carrion had devoured so many of the guards, and they were already hungry again.

**_Your body is stabilising, and mine has been almost starved for a long time. It will not always be like this. We will not always need so much._ **

“That’s good, but what are we going to do? We can’t just…” kill someone, she thought, hoping Carrion could hear her.

**_Why not?_ **

“I because I am… _we_ are human. We don’t do that sort of thing.”

**_Your futile morality was cast aside long ago. How many humans have you sent into the cells, to their deaths?_ **

Skirth had no good argument against that, but she tried anyway. “There’s an old phrase for situations like this. Treat others as you would want to be treated.”

**_So, because you have achieved symbiosis, because you took the risk yourself, you think what you did was justified?_ **

Skirth did not, but she did not need to say so. The symbiote already knew. She did feel guilty for the suffering she had caused so many others. That guilt still paled into insignificance, in her eyes, when compared to how far they had come in the research.

 ** _We can research how many times we need to consume a human for you to stop feeling guilty,_** Carrion suggested with cruel amusement. **_If the humans in your experiment had no value to you, we can find more like them. Worthless humans. Food._**

Skirth opened her mouth to lie, to tell the symbiote that there were no worthless humans. It would have been the politically correct answer. It was what she would have voiced to any human who asked her. But the symbiote was in her head, it knew her prejudices. It knew that she had no regard for the criminal subset of the populous, knew that she felt that the worst should be removed from society in a very permanent way. It knew what she had hidden through psychological screenings and aptitude tests over the years. It knew why she had been able to go through with the experiment for so long, despite the lives lost.

**_How do you suggest we go about doing that?_ **

* * *

 

She took risks now.

She moved around a lot, finding the worst, cheapest motels to stay in, scouted the most notorious bars and walked through the darkest alleyways. She deliberately dressed provocatively, low cut blouses and short skirts and heels that were so tall she would have been unable to walk in them without the symbiote’s aid. She put herself in the middle of dangerous situations, and followed the sound whenever she heard a scream.

They had fallen into a pattern once the symbiosis stabilised. Every third day they needed to feed on something living – _someone_ living.

Carrion had led their way to begin with, scouting the streets to find prey. The symbiote had taken control of her steps, her voice, her body. Had tempted bad men – and women, but it was usually men that fell for the ploys – into alleyways and waited for Skirth’s approval that this was a bad person before she would devour them.

Skirth watched Carrion through her own eyes, not in control as the symbiote dredged the worst from society. She found murderers, rapists. For every one she devoured, a victim was most definitely saved.

Carrion sometimes got it wrong. On its own the symbiote did not understand the fine details of human interaction. A little too flirty, a little too insistent, and she had brought a perfectly innocent individual to the alley with her. A few times she had refused to go further with them, and the one she had brought back had not pressed the matter. It surprised the symbiote, whose own perception of humanity was so very negative, and it worried Skirth. What if they got it wrong at some point?

Skirth started to ease back control on those nights. She would make suggestions to Carrion, push her away from those who seemed more confused and horny than malicious. She began to guide the interactions, making sure they were not overly flirtatious.

Carrion began to back away completely about three weeks into their symbiosis. Skirth soon realised that the symbiote delighted in watching her host, appreciated the lengths she would go to for sake of keeping them together and alive. Skirth could not prevent the transference of that emotion to her own thoughts, and began to enjoy hunting for their meals. There was something primal about it that appealed to her instinctively.

For the rest of the time, when they were not hunting, Carrion prioritised learning about the world. Skirth could understand the academic furore that could consume the symbiote. It was a state she could appreciate, could relate to well.

Carrion was fascinated by everything, asking questions constantly. Skirth answered them as best as she could, and where she had gaps in her own knowledge she would find the answer for Carrion. They spent more time in the libraries than they did in public.

Skirth was the one who had to push Carrion to search for a host for Venom. She was worried about how long the container would last without the oxygen being removed. Carrion assured her that Venom was doing well within, and had a good amount of time before he would need to feed so long as he was without a host. Skirth still worried about even leaving them in their container, fearful that her employer would track her down and steal them from her.

Skirth spent days in coffee shops and evenings in bars and clubs. She met as many people as she could in as short of a time as she could, always waiting for Carrion to identify a potential host for Venom.

**_Do we have to spend so long in these pointless establishments?_ **

More often than not the nights in clubs ended with an early meal for Carrion, so they did not usually mind too much, but they had spent the daytime hours of this particular day in the library. Carrion had still failed to find the answer she wanted to the confusing question she had asked Skirth that morning, and they had checked out several books to read for when Skirth was asleep. They were impatient to get back to the hotel to read them.

“This is more important than books Carrey.”

The loud music ensured that her voice was lost to any ears than her own, even though the press of bodies was close. Skirth put herself right in the middle of the dancers, changing partner frequently and seeking Carrion’s opinion on them.

**_Not him. He reeks of disease._ **

“Thanks for the warning,” Skirth grimaced, thinking of the man’s hands rubbing all over her with disgust and hoped she hadn’t caught anything contagious. “Do you plan to help at all?”

**_If you insist on seeking gratification, I would be more than happy to oblige._ **

“With finding a host for Venom!” she hissed, taking the initiative herself to select a different dance partner, rubbing against their body and finding skin to skin contact so that Carrion could assess their compatibility.

 ** _Could you not go to a book club or something?_** The symbiote huffed. **_Why do you have to come to these places? Why do these men have a right to touch you like this?_**

“Carrey, are you jealous?” Skirth laughed, making a point of grinding her backside against the current potential-host’s half-erect member, dropping her head back on his shoulder so that he had access to her neck to kiss.

 ** _Yessss._** The symbiote took control of her limbs, standing firmly on the man’s foot with a stiletto heel to force him away. ** _I believe I have made that perfectly clear?_**

This was not the first time they had this conversation. Carrion was not human, and had made it very clear that physical intimacy was not a concept their kind were familiar with amongst their own, but they took their desires and instincts in part from their host. Carrion was intelligent enough to understand that physical relationships were, to a human, a part of a larger whole. The symbiote hated to be denied an aspect of Skirth, especially when Skirth had on more than one occasion tried to take a particularly nice man or woman back to the hotel with them for the night.

“At this rate we’re never going to find a host for Venom.”

**_Stop changing the subject._ **

“Nothing has changed since the last time we had this conversation.”

**_Precisely. You wanted me then. You still want me now._ **

“You’re kidding yourself.”

**_You are in denial._ **

“What about this guy?” Skirth laid her hand on the hip of the man who had taken the place of stiletto-foot, feeling Carrion extend from her fingertips as spikes, cutting in to his skin. The man yelled, the noise swallowed by the crowd, as the symbiote carved shallow lines across his abdomen.

 ** _Not him,_** the symbiote laughed sweetly in her mind. Skirth tried to deny the arousal she felt as Carrion lifted their bloodied hand to their mouth, sucking each finger clean. Carrion growled internally.

“I’m going mad,” Skirth breathed to herself, trying to close herself off from Carrion’s laughter.

**_Enough for tonight. Let us go home._ **


	4. Chapter 4

Some nights Carrion refused to rest.

Skirth could shut herself off when her symbiote was reading by light of Venom’s container, which had battery life to last for another year or so in theory but still was an ever-present worry for her. Carrion, like her, enjoyed learning. Like a true scientist, if she was confused by something she wanted to find the answer, and this whole world was new to her.

There was a focal subject to Carrion’s research recently, and Skirth had tried on many occasions to discourage the symbiote from her study. It was not uncommon for the symbiote to use her own memories as point of reference to recreate scenes from their reading into mental images which they could then show to Skirth and ask about. Skirth suspected they knew exactly how those images tended to affect her and enjoyed her responses.

**_This does not seem anatomically congruent._ **

Skirth tensed as an image jumped into her mind, two faceless female human forms tangled together in a mess of twisted limbs.

“Go to sleep.”

**_Where am I going wrong?_ **

Another image, the same scene, but the arms were bending in a more anatomically coherent manner. Still, humans did not bend that way.

“I am not doing this again Carrey,” Skirth grumbled, turning over in the bed to face the strands of Carrion that emerged from her shoulder and gathered to form a face. The book was held in another extension of the symbiote’s self, but they were looking instead at Skirth. “Go to sleep. If you insist I will describe your pornography to you in the morning.”

**_A description might not be enough. You might need to demonstrate…_ **

“Yeah, and if you’d let me bring that redhead home last week she’d have been happy to demonstrate with me,” she complained. “Now _go to sleep._ ”

She could feel Carrion thinking, closed off from her, until sleep finally came.

* * *

 

They had to move in a hurry sometimes.

A drone would appear on the street, moving with purpose. A car would arrive outside. A string of guards would corner her in an alleyway.

They stopped sending teams to bring them back after they killed the fourth group. The cost in lives was too high. Instead it became a case of monitoring their movements, trying to track them before they could move on. Carrion found it funny, but Skirth worried for Venom.

“They could take them from us,” she reminded the symbiote as she prepared herself for another evening on the town, searching for a host for Venom. “Take them back to the lab. They could die there. They don’t understand.”

**_You are the one who does not understand. When Venom has a host, this will not be over._ **

“What do you mean?” It was the first time Carrion had communicated concern to Skirth in relation to Venom, and it was so unexpected that she managed to make a mess of her eyeliner.

**_Venom might not take kindly to your people. We might need to keep him under control ourselves. Especially if his host is too afraid to challenge him. Make him realise the… intricacies of your species._ **

“Flattery? Carrey, I’m impressed,” Skirth ran her fingers lightly over her left arm, where beneath the skin the slight sensation of movement revealed that Carrion was receiving the nerve signals. It was not infrequent for Carrion to perform their own form of caress to Skirth, and it had become natural to return the gesture. “You’re not normally so nice about humans… what do you want?”

**_You._** This response was usual also, so routine by now that it caused no shock.

“You’ve got me.”

**_Not completely._ **

Skirth sighed. Carrion’s almost daily reminder of her perceived neglect was grating. By this point Skirth was quite convinced that the symbiote’s only interest was academic. They wanted to know what it felt like for a human, a host, to be intimate. Skirth would be happy to oblige if only the symbiote would allow them to chose a partner. It had been… a while, since weeks before Carrion had joined with her, since she had been able to have any sort of physical pleasure. But Carrion was stubborn, almost as stubborn as she was herself. They were an exceptionally good match, but that did mean that neither of them would back down easily. And Carrion wanted Skirth to their self.

“Carrion? If you found someone suitable for Venom, you would tell me?”

**_An ideal match is difficult to find._ **

“I didn’t say ideal,” Skirth frowned, discomforted. “We can’t wait for perfection. Carrey, every day they remain in that tank Venom is in danger. Please tell me you haven’t let possible hosts pass us by all this time?”

**_You would ask me to lie?_ **

“Carrey…” exasperated, she slammed the mascara down on the dressing table. “Does their life mean so little to you?”

**_Why does it mean so much to you?!_ **

Carrion’s voice was a roar in her mind, leaving an echo. Skirth stumbled backwards, the backs of her knees hitting the bed, and fell ungracefully.

“Carrion what the hell?” her hands were shaking and she could feel a migraine starting. The symbiote quickly soothed the pain, sheepish. “What was that? Why…?”

**_You obsess so much about finding Venom a host. You think about it seventeen hours per day, on average, do you realise that?_ **

“This project is the only thing keeping me going,” Skirth argued bitterly. “I left my home, my career, my everything – all I have left are you and Venom. And they are in danger! Do you not understand? You can see my mind, you know how important this is.”

**_Am I not important to you?_ **

“You are safe, Carrey. You are with me, and I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The symbiote roiled, turning over and around within her.

**_So…_** it hesitantly began, stopping, extending tendrils to create a face. **_“So if Venom had a host, you would worry less?”_**

“I’ve been saying that for months,” Skirth pointed out.

**_“If we find them a host… if I find them a host… then they would be safe, and you would be more able to focus on us?”_ **

“You’re needy, you know that?”

**_“We are alike.”_ **

Skirth felt the emotion Carrion projected into her thoughts, amplified and echoing by the same feeling in herself.

Loneliness. Not alone, never alone, not anymore. And yet, they were both so _lonely._ They were together, all the time, but both of them maintained such strict barriers between one another, such emotional distance. Skirth hardly realised how much she had felt that way until it was echoed right back to her.

**_“This should not be,”_** Carrion’s tone was pleading. **_“I had thought… perhaps…”_**

“This is why you’ve been pushing the sex issue?” Skirth frowned. “You thought it might make us closer?!”

**_“I researched…”_ **

“Crappy romance novels, Carrey, not fact. Real life isn’t like the books.”

**_“I would know that, if you would just talk to me!”_ **

“No part of my mind is hidden from you.”

**_“I have respected your privacy Doctor, from the moment I realised you would appreciate it. I do not access more than the very surface of your thoughts.”_ **

Skirth was left gawping for a moment. She hadn’t known that, had thought she had no secrets at all from the symbiote. To learn that, without being asked, it had been so considerate of what she would prefer, stunned her a little.

“Maybe…” she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “Maybe we should start with that? Why do you still call me Doctor?”

**_“You prefer it, except from your family.”_ **

“You’re literally a part of me now,” Skirth pointed out. “We should be closer than family.”

**_“Yes. We should.”_ **

Carrion’s tone was final, and as they finished speaking they withdrew back into her body, closing themselves off from her mind with an abruptness that made the headache rebound.

* * *

 

“Carrey, I get that you’re in a mood with me right now but this is childish!” Skirth argued. She had removed herself from the dance floor, since Carrion was not bothering to answer. Without Carrion’s input she had no way to know if any of the men she flirted with were any use for Venom.

“Hey, you okay beautiful?” a heavy arm looped over her shoulders. Sneering at the heavily tattooed hulk of a man, she shoved his arm away.

“Did I ask you to touch me?”

“Woah, chill,” he held up his hands, backing away. “Just trying to help.”

“Yeah? Well run along sunshine, nothing to see here.”

**_Cruel._ **

“Ah, so now you talk?”

“Seriously? Right back to the silent treatment?”

“That’s fine, suit yourself. Let’s leave Venom in danger another night, because Carrion can’t get over themselves. Absolutely perfect. So mature.”

Her high heels clicked on the concrete, echoing off the walls of the buildings around her. She knew this alley, passed through it frequently on the way between the clubs and the hotels in the cheaper areas of town. It was one of their favourite hunting grounds, historically notorious for the number of unsolved rapes and murders that had occurred here over the years.

She had not thought it through, when she took this route. With Carrion sulking and with her not paying attention, she only noticed the figure following her when his sweaty hand closed over her mouth.

“What’s pretty thing like you doing alone in a place like this?”

“Apparently searching for clichés,” Skirth grumbled against his hand. “I’d really recommend you let go now.”

“I don’t think so love,” the man’s body odour flooded her nostrils as he pulled her close. “Now you just keep quiet and no one needs to get hurt.”

“You and I have a very different definition of hurt,” she pointed out as his hand went under her blouse, groping her breast through her bra. Any second now Carrion would encase her and devour this creep. She wasn’t worried.

“Final warning,” she filled the silence, squirming away as he began to lift the hem of her skirt. A knife edge nicked the skin of her throat. _Any time about a minute ago, Carrion?_ “Seriously, let me go now if you want to live.”

He was laughing at her, ignoring her warnings, and licked her neck.

_Carrion?_ She thought it as loudly as she could, starting to panic as she didn’t get a response still. _Do you want us dead?_

“No panties?” the creep behind her sounded thrilled. “Naughty girl, pretending to be a sweetheart…”

Stiletto heels could be weaponised, which was why she wore them. She stomped down on his foot, managing to duck away before he could cut her, but her heel snapped on impact and she stumbled, winding up on hands and knees with an angry potential rapist at her back.

“Carrion for fuck’s sake!”

A growl tore from her throat as the symbiote finally paid attention, wrapping around her like a second skin. Flooded with relief, she readily gave up control, feeling the symbiote grin at the man.

**_“Run.”_ **

_What are you doing? He’s seen us. We have to kill him!_

**_Three. Two. One…_ **

They sprang, tendrils latching into the stonework as Carrion ran along the wall, quickly catching the man and passing him, dropping down in front.

“Please! Please don’t…”

Carrion leaned in, a low growl rumbling in their chest, and licked their long tongue over his neck.

**_“We warned you.”_ **

Skirth did not close herself off as Carrion’s teeth closed around the man’s head, effortlessly crushing the skull. She felt every crack as it happened. She did not recoil.

They left a mess behind. Usually they were neat, but they were angry tonight. They had only fed the night before, but they took the chance to take Carrion’s favoured parts from the body, the symbiote savouring them.

Skirth took control back reluctantly as Carrion withdrew within, hovering at the edges of her thoughts.

“That was cruel.” Skirth did not need to explain that she referred to making her wait. Carrion would know.

**_Yes_**.

The matter of fact answer only annoyed her more. “I could have been seriously hurt!”

**_No. I stopped it before that could happen._ **

“You still ignored me when I needed you!”

**_Yes. We are petty. We are cruel._ **

Skirth stilled, reflecting on those words as they echoed in her mind, Carrion showing her the accusations she had made earlier in the evening to her symbiote. Slowly some of the tension left her body, her anger deflating.

**_We are a perfect match, Doctor. We are ideally suited to help or hurt one another._ **

“Then you should have known how much this would hurt us.”

**_We are also hypocrites._ **

Skirth barely had time to question or be confused before Carrion showed her explanation; the hurt they felt following their argument earlier.

“It’s not the same,” she excused.

**_If you were in my place, and I were in yours, you would have done no different._ **

Skirth thought on that as she pulled herself together and started the long walk back down the alley – they had chased the man the wrong way – shedding her shoes with the one broken heel and treading carefully on the hard floor. Carrion extended a little of itself to act as a cushion for her feet.

“Thanks,” she sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Carrey.”

**_I forgive you. I am not._ **

“No, I guess you made your point huh? You’re right, I wouldn’t be either.”

“Oh my God, what happened to you?” they had reached the end of the alleyway, stepping into the streetlights. The street beyond was deserted except for one man, who was staring at her in horror.

**_We are bloodstained._ **

“It’s fine, I’m fine…” Skirth assured the man, taking a step to go past him but he caught her arm.

“You’re covered in blood! You are not fine.”

“It’s… not my blood,” she tried, not sure that would be the most helpful excuse in the world. “I’m fine. Just let me go, I need to go home.”

“You’re kidding right? I’ll call the police while you tell me what you saw.”

“I don’t want the police,” she grabbed his phone as he took it out of his pocket, holding it so that the screen was covered and he could not dial. “I was attacked, but he’s dead now.”

“Yeah, that’s not…” he caught her arm as she turned to leave. “You get why I can’t just let you go right?”

**_Shall I eat him too?_ **

“No… no, that sounds like a bad idea.” _He’s just trying to do the right thing._

Slowly he let go of her arm, watching her for any signs she was going to try to run. When he did not immediately dial the phone, she allowed her legs to fold beneath her, sitting on the cold concrete.

“What happened?” his voice was soft, and he knelt down next to her without touching her, making himself less threatening. “If you tell me I promise I’ll do everything I can to help.”

**_What will you tell him?_ **

“I… I think it ate him.”

“What?” the man looked puzzled, but to his credit he had a very reasonable reaction to quite an extreme statement. Skirth made a show of wiping tears from her eyes.

**_You’re making us look weak again. Explain why this is necessary or I’m just going to eat him too._ **

“I didn’t see it happen. It appeared out of nowhere. It told him to run…” her breath caught. “I ran, too, but it didn’t want me… it let me go. It sounds mad, I know…”

**_You’re such a liar._ **

“Okay,” the man breathed. “Okay, I believe you.”

“You do?” she looked up through her eyelashes.

“Ten years ago, sure, I’d say you were nuts,” he joked. “Now? With the Avengers having to stop an alien invasion every few years? An anti-rape cannibal monster doesn’t seem so farfetched.”

“Thank you,” she smiled. “For believing me… please, don’t call the police.”

He groaned as he straightened his knees, frowning down at her. “Okay. Listen, this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to find a payphone. You stay here, alright? We can go before the police arrive. You don’t have to face them.”

Skirth nodded, settling onto the pavement and watching as he pocketed his phone, headed for a store down the road that still had its lights on.

**_He’s a complete dork._ **

Skirth laughed, suddenly and unexpectedly. “Don’t be so mean. He’s trying to help us.”

**_He’s perfect._ **

“Well… that’s unusually nice of you. You won’t mind if I flirt with _him_ then?”

Carrion bristled. **_I don’t mean for you._**

“Oh.” Did she mean…? “Venom?”

**_Venom._ **

“I’m not sure he’d cope with e _ating people,_ Carrey. He seemed a bit soft.”

**_He will surprise you._ **

“Really? You’re sure about that?”

**_I am. He took your story in his stride. He will adapt._ **

“Well then you’d best shut up before he gets back. We don’t want to scare him off.”

**_Try to get him to walk you home. We can take him to Venom tonight._ **


	5. Chapter 5

“How do we do this?”

The man had returned shortly after calling the police, wrapping her in his long coat to hide the blood and taking her with him on foot to an all-night diner a few streets over. He had made sure she was comfortable before going to the counter to buy them both a drink.

**_You get him inside the hotel. I can handle him from there._ **

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Skirth recalled too well the terrified people who had been subjects in the experiment, who didn’t know what was happening. “Maybe we should try to talk to him first?”

**_Come inside, little dork, we’ve got an alien here who would like to use your body as a suit. Don’t worry though, they’re not as bad as you think, they only eat people a few times a week and you’re guaranteed to get along._ **

“Maybe not in those words,” she laughed. “You’re the one who said he would adapt. You must have a better idea than just kidnap the guy?”

**_Well. I suppose, if you were to get him back to the hotel…_ **

“Yes?” Skirth prompted as Carrion shifted uncomfortably.

**_You could try to explain what happened tonight, what really happened, and see how he reacts. If he’s alright about it, which he probably won’t be, we could show him._ **

“Maybe if we start with telling him about us, and see if he’s willing to stay the night?”

**_You’re going to flirt with him? Really?_ **

“Don’t get all annoyed. We’re telling him that we’re an alien-human symbiote. That’s not a turn on.”

**_He might be curious._ **

“Carrion!”

**_The thought came from the surface of your own mind. I just said it._ **

“You’re going to be the death of me.”

**_Only a little._ **

“For fuck sake, Carrey, stop it. He’s coming back.”

“Hot chocolate?” the man offered the cup to her. She didn’t take it from him, wanting him to sit down first. If he handed her the cup and left it would be a problem, and he had ordered take out cups. “Need a rest, huh?”

“It has been a difficult evening,” she smiled weakly, gesturing to the seat opposite her. “Would you stay? I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you’re safe at home,” he promised. Within her, Carrion rumbled with approval. “You’ve had enough trouble for one night.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind.”

**_That was easy._ **

“Besides, I want to ask you more about what you saw,” the man suggested.

**_Maybe not._ **

“You’d just think I’m mad,” Skirth improvised with a heavy sigh. “Look, when I woke up this morning I didn’t expect to be sat in a coffee shop at one in the morning with a guy whose name I don’t know, trying to explain how a man got torn apart right in front of me.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” he shrugged. “I am curious though… my name’s Eddie Brock, I used to be a reporter, no matter what you saw I can promise I’ve likely seen worse.”

**_See. Adaptable._ **

“I’m Dora Skirth,” she introduced, surprised when he looked to recognise the name.

“I thought you looked familiar! You used to work for the Life Foundation?”

_Shit._

**_Shit._ **

“I did. I’m sorry, should I recognise…?”

“No,” he laughed humourlessly. “No, there’s no reason why you would. I was only there for half an hour. You were helping present to some children whilst I spoke with your boss. That was the interview that killed my career.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, that was a long time ago now,” he shrugged. “So what brings an accomplished scientist, a PHD no less, to this part of the city?”

**_Tell him nothing till we have him secured._ **

“The Life Foundation happened,” she answered vaguely. “About six months ago I was finishing up an experiment that had been… extremely challenging. On the last day, I had some success. After that I had to leave in a hurry.”

“Why? If you’d succeeded…”

“They would have killed me, had I stayed.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “Life’s… different, now, but… I wouldn’t say it’s bad.”

“Except tonight?”

“Even tonight,” she reached out, taking his hand from his coffee and holding it in her own. “There’s a silver lining to every cloud. I wouldn’t have met a nice guy like you tonight if it hadn’t been for… what happened.”

**_You’re laying it on a bit think Doc._ **

“Sorry,” she took her hand back, feigning embarrassment.

“Don’t apologise,” he looked sympathetic. “You don’t have anyone you can talk to about what happened, right?”

“That’s exactly it. If I were to tell anyone what happened and the Life Foundation found out… it would be dangerous.”

“The way I see it, you need to get this off your chest,” he suggested. “And the Life Foundation already want me dead, so you’re not doing any additional harm.”

**_He is digging for a story. He wants a scandal to write for the papers. Use it. Hook him in._ **

“Not here,” she looked suspiciously around the almost empty coffee shop. “Ears in the walls.”

“Maybe another day? You must be exhausted.”

“You’re taking me home anyway, if the offer still stands? I could tell you there?”

**_Good. You’re doing well._ **

“We should head back,” she suggested, standing steadily as if nursing her sore feet, still barefoot with her shoes now thrown into a roadside bin. _Is there anything you would like to add?_

**_Thank him for the coffee._ **

Skirth hid a smile by hanging back from Eddie as he flagged down a cab. They were working together again, the problems that had been building forgotten now that they had made progress, now that they had hope to alleviate her anxiety for Venom. The thrill of this, of baiting Eddie, felt like it had in the early days tempting prey for Carrion, without the negative aspect that she was leading them to their death.

“Carrion?” she breathed, quiet enough that the sound of the approaching cab would easily hide her words from Eddie. The symbiote moved within, a tingle brushing her cheek. She raised a hand to lay over them there. “We’re doing this together.”

* * *

 

“Would you like another coffee?”

Eddie’s face had betrayed his sorrow for her when they reached the motel she was staying in. It wasn’t that they didn’t have money now. Carrion’s meals often had plenty of cash on them which they would take for their own use, since there was no actual way for them to get a job. They stayed in the low-cost hotels and motels because there was less expectation of what they would do when they were there. An expensive place would do more than write their name in a log book and take their money.

It was a big step down from the townhouse she had owned before, the half a million dollar a year base salary with bonuses for all of her projects and experiments. It was a price she had paid for the symbiotes, for Carrion, and she was used to it now. Given the choice she would not go back and change it.

“Is this going to be a long explanation?” he wondered, eyeing the kettle but also looking quite tired. “It’s fine if it is, I just don’t want any more caffeine if I’m not going to be awake much longer.”

“Why don’t we start with the basics, and we can continue in the morning?” they suggested. “If you’re still willing to stay after the basics, the bed’s big enough for two.”

“I’d sleep on the floor,” Eddie offered immediately. “You don’t want a man in your bed after what happened tonight.”

**_He has a point. I don’t want him near you either._ **

“We’ll be fine,” they smiled reassuringly. “You might want to sleep apart once you have heard the story, but don’t put yourself out for my sake.”

“Whatever they’re doing at the Life Foundation, whatever you were caught up in, the fact that you’re even here speaking to me and not still with them tells me that you’re not the problem,” he assured her.

“Yes, well, you might want to sit down,” they pulled out a chair for him, waiting until he did.

**_We should remain between him and the door so he cannot escape._ **

_That would be threatening. We can catch him if he runs. Allow him to feel safe._ Skirth went to the other side of the table to sit, scolding Carrion as she found her legs stiffer to use than would be normal. _I’d rather be between him and Venom anyway._

“So,” they had no idea where to begin. “This is going to sound mad.”

“I already told you, nothing sounds mad anymore.”

“The Life Foundation, more precisely its creator, has been trying some extraordinary means to make scientific advances. The one I was involved with was his great hope to make it possible for humankind to inhabit less hospitable planets,” they took a deep breath, braced for his initial reaction if it should be bad. “The rocket that crashed, the mission was not intended for any of the purposes declared to the government. Its sole mission was to bring back life. Four parasitic organisms that we called symbiotes.”

**_Do you have to describe us as parasites?_ **

“Maybe parasitic isn’t fair – they are so much more than that,” they corrected. Carrion hummed internally in approval. “One of them was lost in the crash, but three were returned to the lab. And we began experiments.”

They paused, giving Eddie time to adjust. His fingers were moving, not quite drumming on the table. It was the habit of someone used to taking notes.

“Would you like a pen and paper?” they offered with a laugh. “You’re not working for a newspaper any more, but if you want to take notes we don’t mind.”

Eddie twitched, enough to make them flinch.

**_Careful with the pronouns. He is intelligent._ **

“We?”

“I’m getting to that,” they promised. “Pen? Paper?”

“No, it’s alright, this seems like the sort of thing no one should be writing down,” Eddie laid his hands flat on the table. “Carry on?”

“The symbiotes were named for their ability to cohabit the forms of Earth creatures,” they explained. “We started with rabbits. The experiments failed far more often than they succeeded. But they did. Succeed. Especially with Amber. They became my favourite, the most successful of the symbiotes. Then the boss instructed us to move on to human trials.”

“This is the part where you might not forgive me,” they confessed. “The human trials were even less successful than the rabbit ones. They were dying, one after another. Some lasting longer than others but… they all died.”

“So you got out?”

“No,” they frowned a little. “I told you, I left when I had some success.”

“… how many died?” his hands had closed into fists on the table, but his tone did not change.

“Over one hundred. I have no excuse,” they did not hold back. “I was too entrenched. I separated myself from them. They weren’t human to me. They were just subjects. They gave their consent for the experiment and if they changed their mind it was already too late. The symbiote couldn’t be instructed to leave. Once it bound to them, that was it.”

**_We must move on. He is trying to remain sympathetic, but he is uncomfortable._ **

“We lost one of the symbiotes in the experiment. The ship had brought back four, and the one that had escaped could not be recaptured. It had to be extinguished where it had escaped. There were only two left. Amber, and Jet. By this time I was terrified that I would lose another of the symbiotes, and this experiment had taken over my life. I had discarded everything I had ever valued. Everything that made me, me. I couldn’t lose them.”

“It went wrong. Amber’s host was failing. I made… a rash decision,” they met his eyes, and Carrion allowed herself to be seen, obscuring the pupil with white. Eddie stood so quickly that his chair was knocked over behind him, but he didn’t bolt. “We ran. We’ve been running ever since.”

“Amber?”

“That is not our name,” they spoke, voice a merger between both of theirs. “We are Carrion.”

Eddie was frozen, lost for words and evidently trying to decide whether he should run. They remained relaxed in the chair, checking their fingernails so that they had something to look at that was not him. They did not want to frighten him any more than they already had.

“Am I speaking with Doctor Skirth, or Carrion?” he finally asked.

“We can speak separately, if that would make things easier for you,” they offered. “We can appear frightening, but we mean you no harm.”

“I would like to speak with Doctor Skirth alone,” he requested. He did not right his own fallen chair but in a brave move he did pull another of the chairs around the table and sit back down.

**_“There is no need to be afraid, I will not harm you.”_ **

Carrion had lifted one of their arms and at the hand their face formed. Skirth could still feel the symbiote in her mind, but they had separated from control of her voice.

“It’s okay,” she reassured. Eddie was holding things together remarkably well. She wished she could know what he was thinking.

“Carrion was the creature that killed the man tonight?”

**_“We were, but we did not lie when we told you he had attacked us. He had intended to sexually assault my host. I could not allow that.”_ **

“Have you killed other people?”

**_“I must feed.”_ **

“Oh god.”

“Rapists,” Skirth quickly interjected. “Would be murderers. Bad people. Never anyone innocent.”

**_Hush now. Let him think. Let him make up his mind. Give him space. This has gone well._ **

Skirth couldn’t imagine how, having told Eddie that they killed people, he hadn’t fled the motel room straight away. She was happy to be guided by Carrion in this, and decided to give Eddie the whole room to himself by taking time in the bedroom to change out of her revealing club clothing.

“Sorry,” Eddie’s voice came from the doorway, a squeak. “I should have knocked, sorry…”

“Eddie,” Skirth called before he could leave the room. They were half dressed, their upper half entirely uncovered. “It’s okay. Does this mean you’ve decided to stay?”

“I.. yes,” he was trying to avert his eyes, anywhere else than at them. “I want to hear the rest of the story… what is that?”

His avoidant gaze had found the other container in the corner of the room where it was plugged in to the mains to charge.

“Is that the other one? You took it from them?”

“Venom. And yes, we took them with us,” they watched his reaction carefully. He did not look afraid, which was a welcome surprise.

“Have they not come to take it back?”

“They have. We took care of them,” they admitted.

“Right. Okay…” he hesitated. “Can you put a top on?”

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Skirth smirked, making a point of her positioning to emphasise her breasts and her narrow waist. Having a metabolic rate designed to suit a symbiote had made her figure toned and slim, a perfect hourglass, in contrast to her natural shape. It was a temptation she used frequently on their prey.

“Look, I’m just going to sleep on the floor out here,” Eddie told her, turning back to the kitchen. “In fact, I’m going to book a room for myself, it won’t cost a lot. I’ll come back in the morning. What time…?”

**_“If you leave this building, we will know.”_ **

“Holy fuck was that the parasite?!”

“Sorry. Yes, that was them,” Skirth sighed. “They’re worried that you’re going to leave before we can finish telling you all you need to know. I’m sure you won’t. You seem like a man of your word. Come back in the morning, about nine?”

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded, resolute. “Nine. I’ll see you both then.”

“Have a good sleep,” they answered together, the rumble of Carrion’s voice coming through clearly.

**_You are disappointed,_** Carrion commented once he was gone. **_I thought that went well._**

“No, it did. I just…”

**_Ah. You like him still._ **

“You know it’s been a while.”

**_You need._** The symbiote’s tone had changed, and after only a moment more tendrils peeled outwards and formed a face.

“Now is not the time Carrey.”

**_“You have had a difficult day,”_** Carrion agreed. **_“You look good like this. Flushed. Wanting.”_**

Skirth swallowed nervously, avoiding Carrion’s eye.

**_“You should rest.”_ **

Skirth glanced up. She had expected the symbiote to push her, to demand something from her. It did not, though it watched as she went to the bed.

She couldn’t get comfortable. The mattress felt too hard, the sheets too rough against skin that was highly sensitised. The company of an attractive man was not enough to explain the way she was feeling, and she asked Carrion about it.

**_You know that I want to please you. You did well tonight. I… appreciated the way you handled him._ **

“We did well,” she murmured, shifting again for the third time in as many minutes, trying to get comfortable. “I’m feeling this from you?”

**_We feel this from each other. It rebounds, builds._ **

“Carrion?”

**_Yes?_ **

“Stop hovering over me,” she requested, waiting for the symbiote to be back within. “Don’t say a word.”

Her hand moved down, stroking lightly over her abdomen and down further, finding her folds wet and ready. Carrion remained silent, but Skirth’s fingers moved without her volition, two delving within and curling.

“Fuck! Carrey…”

**_Relax. Let me._ **

The fingers remained completely still, waiting for Skirth to respond. Arguments sprang to mind, none of them good enough to voice.

“Okay.”

Carrion knew exactly what Skirth was feeling, and exactly what she liked. They mimicked Skirth’s intentions without allowing her the sensation in her arm, surrounding it and taking its control from her.

Skirth bit her lip, trying not to make a sound as Carrion curled slightly thickened fingers within her, thumb brushing close to her clit but not quite where she needed, teasing. It was not hard, with her eyes closed, to imagine the sweet, quite handsome man they had met that night was the one touching her, especially when she could not feel her own arm being guided by her symbiote. She would have been able to come quickly from that fantasy alone after so long without indulging herself, but a growl echoed around the room snapping her out of her imagination.

**_Not him darling._ **

Carrion brushed directly over her clit, curled her fingers within, and moved beneath her skin all at once, and Skirth’s teeth broke the skin of her lip as she tried not to cry out in shocked pleasure. Carrion reflected it right back at her, an echo and more.

**_Another time we shall savour this._ **

Skirth could taste blood on her tongue, hear Carrion rumbling as they arched upwards from the bed, driven over the edge as Carrion moved beneath her skin one final time.


	6. Domesticity

“What if he doesn’t come back?”

**_He will come back._ **

“But what if he doesn’t?”

 ** _Then we will find him. But we will not have to._** Skirth wished she could have Carrion’s confidence.

“What do we even say if he does come back?”

**_Well, we don’t tell him he’s going to be Venom’s host. Not straight away._ **

“I’m not sure we should drag this out. The longer it takes to tell him the whole story the more likely he is to get away when we’re not paying attention.”

**_Would you like to let Venom take over, let him adapt as he goes along?_ **

Skirth thought of the subjects in the lab, their fear as the symbiotes bonded with them. “It would be wonderful if he could accept this, but there’s just no way…”

**_We need to show him the positives. We can show him what we can do, together._ **

Skirth blushed, Carrion chuckling at the memory that rose to the surface of the night before.

**_Well, we could show him that, but I’m not sure it would be the most convincing way of dealing with this. Hush now, we can hear him in the corridor outside._ **

Sure enough Skirth could hear his footsteps and a knock on the door. “Come in. Would you like pancakes?”

“That would be nice thank you.” Eddie looked more relaxed than she had expected when he came in. He didn’t look reluctant to be there, he didn’t seem scared or confused or like he was about to run. It was strange, but welcome. Perhaps there was something about being a journalist, always seeking a story, that was like being a scientist? A new discovery was worth the cost to her; maybe that was the same for Eddie.

 ** _“Why are the blueberries out on the counter?”_** Carrion rose from Skirth’s shoulder, glaring at them accusingly, as if they had got themselves out of the fridge and perilously close to the pancakes. Skirth turned back to the pan, surprised not to see any shocked reaction from their guest.

“We’re having them on the pancakes.”

**_“Why can’t we have chocolate?”_ **

“Blueberries are good for us. Chocolate is not,” Skirth reached out and pushed the symbiote’s head away from the chocolate bar its tongue was reaching for.

 ** _“At least chocolate tastes nice,”_** Carrion grumbled, at the same time wrapping a tendril around the handle of the fish slice and making a show out of flipping the pancakes rather than Skirth’s more careful turning over.

“I don’t care. We’re having blueberries.”

**_“It’s antioxidant.”_ **

“That’s the point. Hey!” Skirth took the took back from the symbiote as one of the pancakes flew too high and stuck to the ceiling. “You know they’re going to charge us for that?”

 ** _“It’ll come down eventually.”_** Carrion studied the blueberries before catching one with her tongue. She growled fiercely. **_“I think I prefer oxidants.”_**

“That makes no sense scientifically and you know it,” Skirth laughed.

**_“We know it._ I _choose to ignore it.”_**

Both of them turned to the unexpected sound of laughter from the breakfast bar, stifled until it had bubbled over uncontrollably. They had almost completely forgotten their guest in their bickering, which had become so very automatic in their months alone.

“Okay, it wasn’t that funny?” Skirth frowned, trying to work out what joke Eddie was laughing at.

**_“Is he broken?”_ **

“You… I…” Eddie did look almost hysterical, trying and failing helplessly to get words out between breaths. “I can’t believe… I just spent… all night… panicking about alien invasions… and you’re up here being so fucking domestic!”

**_“Invasion?”_ **

“Domestic?” Skirth snorted, glancing at Carrion. “We’ve spent months with just ourself for company…”

**_“There’s two of us. That’s hardly an invasion…”_ **

“Did you think that all that time we were plotting to take over the world?”

**_“If we wanted to start an invasion we’d have done it by now.”_ **

They didn’t talk over each other. It was automatic, as natural as breathing, their thoughts separate and apart. As they interrupted one another again and again Eddie could not stop laughing harder.

 ** _“You are sure he’s not broken?”_** Carrion reached out a tendril to Eddie, prodding his shoulder. The chair he was sitting on clattered loudly to the floor as he leapt to his feet and backed quickly away, laughter dying.

“It’s okay,” Skirth quickly reassured him as Carrion dove back beneath her skin, upset radiating from them at the rejection. “They won’t hurt you…”

“I… yeah…” his eyes were still wide, “yeah, sorry…”

**_He’ll just have to get used to it._ **

“You okay?” she checked, not moving towards him for fear of scaring him more.

“Yeah,” he sounded more sure of himself already, looking a little guilty. “Tell Carrion… can she hear me?”

“They can,” Skirth smiled.

“Carrion, I’m sorry I freaked out,” he apologised sincerely. “You took me by surprise.”

Carrion surfaced tentatively from Skirth’s shoulder. **_“We are also sorry. We did not intend to scare you.”_**

“No, I… I know,” he moved back to the table, hesitating a moment before holding a hand out as if for a handshake. “Think we can agree to forgive and forget?”

Carrion tilted their head, quickly flicking through Skirth’s memories to find the purpose of the outstretched hand.

 ** _“All is forgiven,”_** they said simply, reaching out with Skirth’s hand coated with their amber colour to shake his. This time he did not pull away from their touch, and held the hand for much longer than the average handshake.

They only broke the contact when the smell of burning reached them. “Oh shit, the pancakes!”

The batch was ruined, but that was okay. Unplanned and unexpected, they realised that they’d just taken a massive step in the right direction with Eddie. How they could get from that point to convincing him symbiosis with Venom was a good idea was still up in the air, but one thing that wasn’t was the pancake Carrion had flipped, splashing down right into Carrion’s waiting open mouth.

“So what do symbiotes do with their days?”

“Honestly?” they were in the process of attempting to eat their pancakes, and simultaneously trying to keep the blueberry covered pancake away from their mouth. It was complicated enough just trying not to stab themselves in the chin with the fork in the back-and-forth without trying to talk as well. “We’ve spent so much time just running from the Life Foundation.”

**_Do we tell him about finding a host for Venom, or wait?_ **

_We should just tell him and see what happens. We’ve got him if he runs?_

**_Absolutely._ **

“You’re talking to… yourself,” Eddie was struggling to adapt to referring to them as one being, which was understandable to Skirth if a little confusing for Carrion.

“Sorry, yes,” they shrugged. “We’re just worrying that you’re not going to like what we do the rest of the time?”

“Oh,” he frowned, looking like he was thinking hard about something. They paused, curious about what was going through his mind. “You… you don’t have to tell me, it’s probably really personal isn’t it?”

He was blushing, right from his neck to the tips of his ears.

 ** _Adorable,_** Carrion chuckled. **_Also, see, he doesn’t think it would be weird…_**

“Oh God no, not that!” Skirth ignored Carrion’s protest against her words, shovelling some blueberry pancake into their mouth to muffle Carrion’s attempt to follow up on that. If it were possible Eddie blushed harder.

“I promise I’m not judging!” he hurried to say, and they were sure they were blushing now, but also grinning like the Cheshire cat because Carrion was insisting on being cruel. “It’s… I kind of… assumed? No, that sounds really creepy. I just… you’ve spent so long alone together, and you’re so in tune with one another, and…”

This time when they stretched a tendril out to him they stroked his cheek, effectively making him fall silent but he did not pull away.

**_Well isn’t that curious._ **

“Oh god, you must think I’m an absolute freak,” Eddie groaned, head falling into his hands.

**_Hmm, maybe we should tell him about finding a host for Venom now?_ **

“You’re not a freak,” they reassured him, Skirth ignoring the echoing **_hypocrite_** that Carrion contributed. “It’s just surprising, that’s all. You were scared, last night.”

Skirth managed to hold back Carrion’s laugh as Eddie blushed brighter. “Can we change the topic? You said there was more to tell me?”

**_Can’t we keep talking about this? He goes such a funny colour… Humans are strange creatures._ **

“You saw part of what we were going to tell you about. Venom,” Skirth shrugged. “We’re trying to keep them safe, keep them away from the Life Foundation. It’s really quite difficult, they can’t be out of that container without a host so…”

“Hold on,” Eddie’s eyes blew wide, all laughter forgotten. “I’m not sure I like where this is going…”

**_He’s more intelligent than I had assumed._ **

“Alright, yes, you have a right to freak out,” Skirth tried her best to look non-threatening, continuing to eat her pancakes. When had Carrion managed to sneak the chocolate syrup on to them? “That sounded bad. **_You’re free to go, right now, if you want to sign a waiver to keep everything you’ve seen a secret and not go to the papers.”_**

Skirth stilled at the unbidden words, overriding the explanation she had been about to voice. _What the hell Carrey?_

**_We can sell this. He is a journalist like we are scientists. He wants to know, he needs to see. He will not leave._ **

“I…” Eddie looked torn, still frightened but kept in his seat as if by an unseen force.

**_Trust me._ **

“I never said I was going to the papers?” Eddie finally said, the words dragged out and clearly not what he wanted to say, but did not dare to.

“We’re not stupid, Brock,” they laughed. “If we were in your place, that’s exactly what we would do.”

“Well…” Eddie hesitated again.

“You can say it you know,” they reassured. “We won’t be offended. What do you want to ask?”

“Why did you bring me here? Why did you tell me all this?”

 ** _“We shall not lie to you Eddie,”_** Carrion took over just as Skirth floundered for a good answer. **_“We do think you would get along very well with Venom. But we realise that would be a huge thing to ask of someone, and we do not intend to force you. We tell you all of this so that you can make your own decision. And, we tell you because you are a well-known journalist who has familiarity with presenting world-changing news.”_**

“So if I said no to Venom, what would you…?” his eyes still flickered towards the door, and it was obvious that he was thinking about running. Skirth could not understand why he was still sat in his chair, why he had not yet gone. Panic was rising in her but Carrion squashed it down, shifting beneath her skin; a reminder, that they were together and that they could do this.

 ** _“We would ask you to present the crimes of the Life Foundation to the world. We have computers full of information, protocols and experiment outcomes. So many humans, dead in the search of knowledge.”_** Carrion forced Skirth’s fingers to unclench from around her butter knife, to lay flat on the table and look relaxed. **_“We would ask you to tell the world about symbiotes, and how Venom and I would seek to help you. Skirth tells me of your world’s superheroes, your Avengers. We believe that our goals could quite easily align.”_**

“And… Venom…?”

 ** _“We would have to find them another suitable host,”_** Carrion shrugged with a levity neither of them truly felt. **_“It would be a pity, but it would not be impossible.”_**

 ** _He is curious,_** Carrion reminded Skirth internally. **_Do you remember, all that time watching the subjects through the glass? Do you recall wondering what it felt like, even as they faded to their deaths before your eyes?_**

Skirth did recall, the terrible temptation of it, the desperation when they would not even talk to her, would not reveal anything about what was going on within. But her interest had been that of a scientist, and she had been invested in that experiment since before the rocket had flown. Eddie was a journalist, used to being on the outside looking in, and he had known about all of this for less than a day.

Despite her doubts though, Eddie seemed to relaxing again. His eyes no longer flickered to the door to run. Curiously, Carrion even pointed out a moment when he had looked to their room, no doubt thinking about Venom in their container behind the door.

“I would need to see the computers,” he finally suggested. “And you’d have to tell me more, a lot more, before I could even think about reporting on some sort of advertising campaign about symbiotes.”

“That’s fair,” they responded, smiling and united of one mind once more. “We’ll load up the computers after breakfast. You can go through them at your leisure, so long as you stay here with us. We can’t let you take them away, just in case something happens to you or them. They’re our only evidence of what the Life Foundation were doing.”

“I suppose that’s okay,” he nodded. “Will you tell me more about the symbiotes?”

“We will,” Skirth allowed. Carrion chuckled internally. Her face rose up from Skirth’s shoulder, head tilting as she regarded Eddie curiously.

**_“Or maybe I could show you?”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say thank you for all who are reading, and especially commenting! I am amazed by the reception this little bit of fun fic has got, I love writing this kind of thing but usually fics with OC's don't seem to be taken so well as this one, I'm usually writing it more for myself and the fun of it than necessarily getting the readers. Thank you all and hope you're still enjoying.
> 
> NB Since last chapter there's a few new tags added, as I have decided which of the various story plans I'm going to follow at this point so I've been able to list a few more characters too.


	7. Bond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for repeat posting guys, I put the wrong chapter up before - oops

“You scared him.”

**_It was a solid suggestion._ **

“Did you see his face? Carrey, that’s the whitest I’ve ever seen anyone living go,” Skirth spoke quietly enough that the other shoppers couldn’t work out what she was saying. A pair of earbuds provided a reasonable excuse for her to be talking to herself, even though if anyone had actually been paying close enough attention she didn’t have a phone for them to be connected to. Phones were too easy to track. Instead they were plugged into an empty pocket of her coat.

 ** _He didn’t have to look quite so nauseous._** Carrion complained, still sulking from the rejection.

“It was going so well,” Skirth sighed heavily, pointedly blocking the symbiote’s efforts to move her arm from the trolley to scoop more bars of chocolate in; they already had twelve. “It’ll be a wonder if he’s still there when we get back.”

**_He won’t leave. He promised he wouldn’t try to take the computers away._ **

Skirth couldn’t help but think that the symbiote was naïve. Just because Eddie said that he wouldn’t didn’t mean he wasn’t going to throw the computers into his bag and run for it the moment they left him alone in the hotel. Carrion had repeatedly told her he would not but she was not so trusting. They had come shopping reluctantly, out of necessity since their supplies of Carrion-approved food were getting low and also to give him some space.

“And we’re trusting him to be alone with Venom… why exactly?”

**_Well I wouldn’t worry about that. If he tries to do anything to Venom he has to open the container first. He’s not strong enough to move it on his own._ **

“I move it on my own,” Skirth reminded.

 ** _We move it. Together. Your muscles are not powerful enough to lift it without my aid._** Carrion overrode her control of her arm to snatch a giant bar of chocolate from the shelf and toss it into the trolley. Skirth, sighing and rolling her eyes, left it in there and moved on. **_And if he opens the container, well, problem solved._**

“Unless Venom just kills him.”

 ** _…Fair point,_** Carrion admitted reluctantly. **_But I don’t think they will. They're not the type. They'd at least try to bond with the guy before they did that and anyway they would know it would be a death sentence if they did._**

“Carrey, do you think Venom knows about what’s been going on in the last few months?” Skirth wondered aloud, pre-empting the symbiote as she reached for hash browns from the potatoes section and piling three packs into the trolley. “Can symbiotes hear and see without a host?”

**_Not exactly, it’s more… complicated? Hard to explain to a primitive host such as yourself._ **

“Try me?”

**_We sense the raw vibrations, rather than the sound. We taste the air. We feel the heat or the cold. A heartbeat echoes, a scream reverberates, a whisper is a gentle breeze. Light and darkness are all consuming, giving direction but not colour or shape. The picture we have of the world is different to your own, but we understand it with the same precision you do your own view of the world._ **

“We should start writing poetry,” Skirth chuckled. “Okay, but they’ll have some idea about what’s been happening?”

**_Yes. They will know enough._ **

“That helps. Will you stop trying to make me eat steak and kidney pies? You know I hate them,” Skirth snatched the frozen pie from the trolley and discarded it in the wrong place on the aisle, just so that she wouldn’t have to go back to the pies section to put it back and no doubt find another one in the trolley soon after. “Don’t you get enough kidney for yourself?”

 ** _Yes,_** Carrion grumbled. **_But if I’m going to take Eddie out for a spell, I’m going to need my strength._**

“Yeah, again, you scared him suggesting that. There’s no way he’s going to follow through.”

**_Want to make a bet?_ **

“On whether he’s going to let you joy ride? Fine. What are we betting? It seems pointless, we share everything anyway.”

 ** _I know what we want doctor,_** Carrion purred, shifting within. **_If I win, you admit it._**

Skirth’s mouth was suddenly dry, her palms clammy. “And if I win?”

 ** _See, that wasn’t a denial,_** Carrion’s tone dripped satisfaction. **_If you win… Name your price, doc._**

“Either way you really do have to stop calling me that,” Skirth complained. “If I win… hmmm, what do I want from you?”

 ** _We both know the answer to that,_** Carrion reminded her. **_Maybe we don’t need to make a bet?_**

“Shut up. If I win, you let me bring someone home for a change and you stay out of it,” Skirth resolved.

 ** _Really doc, I’m hurt,_** Carrion complained, but they were toneless as they did. They weren’t worried about the potential outcome. It bothered Skirth a little; the symbiote was tremendously insightful into human nature. As that had been the alien scientist’s field of study, she should not have been surprised. **_Do we have a bet?_**

“We do,” Skirth resolved. “Now shut up while I pay for all this crap.”

* * *

 

There was a black van at the end of the road when they returned to the hotel. The Life Foundation must be feeling particularly bold that day, or maybe it had something to do with them having brought Eddie back with them. Either way they made a point of walking right past it and Carrion scraped the side, ripping through metal and causing a very small fire as they tore through wires of monitoring equipment on the inside.

**_We should really move locations. Or eat the driver. They’re pushing their luck._ **

“It’s not the driver’s fault their employer sent them here,” Skirth reasoned. “They probably don’t even know what they’re here for.”

**_Well, that van will be out of operation for a while._ **

The van had waited for them to go inside before two people rushed out of the back and started to put out the small electrical fire. Reassuringly they looked like scientists rather than armed guards.

“We can’t move on until we’ve worked out what we’re doing with Eddie,” Skirth reminded Carrion.

 ** _Ready to lose a bet?_** Carrion preened in return. Their arms were coated with amber beneath Skirth’s coat, allowing her to lift the several heavy bags up the stairs with ease.

“He’s been alone for over two hours reading about how symbiosis killed people, Carrey,” they sighed. “There’s not going to be much chance of him saying yes.”

 ** _And yet he has seen us, months down the line, perfectly matched,_** Carrion reminded. **_We’ll see which wins out._**

Eddie was not in the tiny kitchen diner the main hotel room door opened to. Carrion helped set down the bags on the counter and unpack, soothing Skirth’s worries and reassuring her that they didn’t need to go check on him straight away. They were of the opinion that rushing in to check up on him would make him think they didn’t trust him, which Skirth didn’t but Carrion reminded her they needed to.

With the bags entirely unpacked they made their way into the bedroom where they had left Eddie, the computers set up around him as well as a pad of paper and a pen. The computers were all still logged on, files open on the screens. The pad of paper was all but full, quite an achievement in such a short time frame.

Eddie wasn’t with the devices. He didn’t seem to have heard them come in, too engrossed in watching the symbiote in its container.

Venom spent most of its time quiet and restful, its coils moving a little but generally it was quite still. With Eddie watching it, however, it seemed to have become agitated. It had spread to twice the size it usually filled, tendrils lashing out at the glass frequently, battering and testing for weak points.

Eddie was watching, but he did not look at all afraid. Skirth could see his fascination. She caught herself holding her breath, afraid that the slightest sound might disturb him.

They felt like they waited there in the doorway for a long time, but it was probably only a minute or so, before Eddie’s hand moved slowly from his side and came to rest on the glass.

Immediately Venom stopped lashing out, recoiling into itself as if startled and afraid. It roiled there, appearing discomforted, for a few more moments whilst that hand rested silently on the glass. Slowly, ever so slowly, it began to uncoil itself, a fine tendril moving closer to the glass on the inside and forming into a matching hand there, palm to palm with Eddie’s.

**_Oh how sweet._ **

Skirth couldn’t stop herself exploding into laughter at the scorn in Carrion’s tone, starling Eddie who backed off the container in a hurry.

“Sorry,” he apologised to them immediately. “I know I shouldn’t have been… I…”

“Hey kid, it’s fine,” they assured, still laughing. “It’s something we said… an inside joke, I suppose.”

“You’re not angry?”

“Not at all,” they tried to smile, but as the laughter was still trying to bubble up it likely looked a bit lopsided. “You’re not frightened?”

“I…” he hesitated. “I wanted to thank you, for letting me read through all this.”

He gestured widely to the computers, glancing to the still open notebook on the floor. There was something in his expression, some fleeting concern, that prompted them to pick it up and pass it to him without reading a word.

“Thanks,” he looked relieved. “I… I’ve been thinking.”

**_Doctor? Get ready to pay up._ **

“With everything I’ve read, I do believe that the Life Foundation will never let you exist in peace, and I do think it would be safer for everyone on this side of that fight if Venom had a host,” he reasoned. “I’m not sure I’m that guy, but… if you’re really what you seem, and you really mean it about the Avengers and fighting for this world, maybe I could still help?”

“What sort of help?” Skirth checked. If he meant the media reporting, that was still not what they needed.

“I mean… I suppose I’d be willing to try? If it wasn’t permanent, I could see if I…”

 ** _“You want me to show you?”_** Carrion’s face emerged from Skirth’s shoulder.

“Y…yes,” he sounded so frightened that Skirth nearly backed away, considered telling Carrion to back off too. But unlike the subjects in the lab, unlike the experiment, he was offering this of his own accord. She reminded herself that this was not the same. “You’ll go back to Doctor Skirth, after?”

**_“Of course, boy, I would not leave her. We are Carrion.”_ **

“Then… okay,” he nodded. “Okay.”

**_“Now?”_ **

“No, bad idea,” Skirth interjected. “Not right now. Carrey, the van…”

**_“Has driven away. It will take them a while to come back. Besides, they’re always following us. There’s never going to be a better or worse time.”_ **

“This feels like a worse time,” she pointed out.

**_“And if you are right, and they really are stepping up their search and retrieval, things will only get worse. No, there will be no better time than this.”_ **

“They’re watching you?” Eddie glanced to the window.

“They’re always watching us,” Skirth took a breath, trying to calm her nerves with Carrion’s reassuring vibes. “They stopped trying to actually do anything months ago.”

 ** _“Everything we have done in the last months has been a risk,”_** Carrion reminded them both. **_“We can handle ourselves. It won’t be a problem.”_**

 ** _It might be a problem,_** they continued internally. **_They might come after Eddie when they see us leave. They might think he’s hosting Venom already. If they do, I will take care of it. They won’t catch us._**

 _I’m going to worry about you,_ Skirth thought back pointedly. _And it’ll probably scare Eddie._

**_That is a risk we have to take. We can’t come this far to back down now._ **

“You’re talking to yourself again,” Eddie noted.

“Sorry,” they sighed. “I’m just worried. We haven’t been apart since the lab. It’s not going to be easy.”

**_“It won’t be for long. We’ll be back before you know it.”_ **

“How do you even know it’ll work?” she questioned as another worry rose. “What if you aren’t compatible…”

**_“I have had training in how to cope with incompatible hosts. So long as it is for less than a day, I won’t hurt him.”_ **

“That’s good to know,” Eddie looked simultaneously like he had only just realised dying had even been a possibility, and reassured that it was off the table.

Skirth still hesitated. “Are we doing this now?”

“Maybe we should have lunch first?” Eddie suggested. “I could help you tidy up in here too, just in case room service comes by.”

“That would be good,” Skirth nodded.

 ** _You know I’ll miss you too,_** Carrion murmured fondly into her thoughts. **_It won’t be for long. He needs this, a push to get him to decide, to accept Venom._**

 _I know,_ Skirth realised her hands were shaking as she tried to close down the computers. The arrow skittered across the screen as the mouse vibrated. _You will come back to me._

**_Always, doctor._ **

_What have I said about calling me that?_

**_Dora. You have spent most of your life alone. You are strong. We will be apart for less than a day. Hush now._ **

Skirth found herself wiping the start of tears from her eyes, scolded herself for being pathetic, and resolved to do better. Of course she could do this. She didn’t need anyone, even her symbiote. She was her own person.

Except she wasn’t, not anymore, not really. But she would have to be, just this once.

Lunch was made up of Carrion food; potatoes and meats, with a dessert of chocolate fondue that didn’t last long enough for anything to be dipped into the large bowl of melted chocolate. Carrion told her that they needed their strength so that they would be able to manage with Eddie, and Skirth let them eat what they wanted to make that happen. Eddie ate the same, on Carrion’s instructions, so that they could use that energy later if needed.

They were sitting across from one another at the table, and the tension between them was palpable.

“So?” Eddie began warily.

“So,” Skirth raised an eyebrow, trying for a bravado she didn’t feel. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Eddie decided. “How do we do this? It… I read in the paper about it going in through the mouth… does it have to…?”

“Oh God no,” Skirth laughed. “No, they don’t need to do that. I don’t know why they… Carrey?”

 ** _“I’m sorry to say that might have been a bit of theatrics,”_** Carrion twisted their expression to look sheepish. **_“We weren’t exactly happy being experimented on, and we thought it might be… off-putting?”_**

“We could just bridge hands?” Skirth held out her own for him to take. “Carrey can go through the skin, from me to you.”

Eddie nodded, taking a moment. He looked like he was bracing himself, and when he reached for Skirth’s hand his palm was sweaty.

“Relax,” she suggested, squeezing his hand. “It doesn’t hurt.”

He didn’t need to tell them for them to know that was not what he was afraid of, so Carrion remained within Skirth, allowing their amber colour to cover her arm and reach out tentatively to wrap around Eddie’s wrist. He managed to keep still and mostly relaxed until the first part of the symbiote had fully encased his wrist, shaped something like a manacle, before he pulled away sharply.

“Sorry,” he held his wrist to his chest, perturbed. “Sorry, I just… okay.”

With resolve, he stuck his hand back out and grabbed Skirth’s tighter, as if that would stop him from letting go again. Carrey watched through Skirth, concerned, waiting for him to breathe.

“You’re sure you’re ready?” they questioned as he continued to hold his breath.

“Just do it,” he nodded.

Carrion rose up again, this time not wrapping all the way around his arm but flowing up and over the surface of the skin at the top, along to his shoulder where they stopped, letting the rest of themselves catch up. Skirth felt the moment the last of the symbiote left her mind, and again when they left her body entirely. They left a void, visceral and still, like someone had taken a scalpel and cut a part of her away. She tried not to let it show.

The amber colour sank slowly into Eddie’s skin, taking a few seconds to disappear completely.

“Oh,” he gasped, frowning at the table. “I can hear…”

He stopped, and Skirth was patient as she recognised them having a conversation within his mind. Eddie didn’t try to speak aloud, even though she knew it was very hard not to when conversing with the symbiote. The slightest distraction made it nigh on impossible to keep the dialogue going internally – that was why she would speak aloud when conversing with Carrion so often.

“This is strange,” he finally said aloud to Skirth. “But it’s…”

“Not a bad strange?” she finished for him, knowing exactly what he meant. “I suppose it’s never not strange, but it’s kind of nice, you know?”

“I suppose I can see that,” he nodded his agreement, drawing into himself again. A long minute later he looked to the door. “They want to show me what they can do?”

“Yeah,” Skirth had known Carrion’s plan of course, they were as one being when they were together. The thought of being so far apart still had bile rising in her throat. “Go for it. I’ll be fine.”

Eddie’s eyes glazed over with a golden sheen, and Skirth knew that Carrion was looking out at her, assessing.

“Really, go,” she told her symbiote. “Just come back safe?”

 ** _“Of course I will,”_** Carrion laughed, the words strange in an approximation of Eddie’s voice. **_“I have a bet to collect on.”_**


	8. Paranoia

Skirth twitched the curtain back for a moment before letting it fall again.

She was being paranoid. She was alone, she was shaking, and she was imagining things.

“How long will you be?” she whispered to… herself? To Venom? She hardly knew anymore. She wasn’t used to this, to being alone.

And she was sure there had been three drones outside last time she checked, not two.

There were always drones watching them. The Life Foundation followed wherever they went. When they wanted to be as subtle as they could possibly be, they only had the one drone following them from a distance.

These were getting closer each time she checked. She was sure of it.

She twitched the curtain again to take a peek. Still two drones. One of them was on the move, drifting steadily closer to the hotel. There were cars parked outside, but none of them stuck out from the rest, no obvious surveillance vans or problems. She dropped the curtain.

“I don’t like this Venom,” she muttered. Could they understand her? Carrion suggested they would be able to perceive her. Maybe even if they didn’t know what she was saying, they would understand her worry. “What if Carrey’s in trouble? I feel so powerless here.”

Within their container Venom was still restless. They hadn’t settled since Eddie had laid their hand on the glass earlier that day. Skirth didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Her talking was not helping – if anything they were getting more agitated by the moment.

“I need to relax,” she reminded herself. “They’ll be back. Carrey can look after herself.”

She moved away from the window, sitting beside Venom’s container and leaning against the glass.

“I hope you know how hard we’re trying for you, to keep you safe, to make you happy,” she murmured under her breath, hearing Venom settle within and tap twice on the glass beside her cheek. “Carrey really thinks he’s perfect for you, and I really hope she’s right because honestly? If he’s not I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Venom tapped again twice more. She glanced round at them. They had a singular tendril against the glass, shaped like the hand they copied from Eddie earlier.

“You understand me then?” Two taps. “Or are you just tapping whenever I speak?”

One tap. They waited.

“Okay,” she could hardly believe, after all this time, but the symbiote was communicating with her and she would not miss the chance. “Are you okay in there?”

Venom did tap twice, but after some hesitation.

“You’re ready to be out I guess? What do you think to Eddie?” she questioned. They tapped twice, and rested the hand on the glass. “Good. That’s good. Maybe this will work. When they get back, you could talk to him like this you know.”

One tap.

“Why not? It might help reassure him…” she trailed off as Venom started to move again, restless and thrashing. “What is it, what’s wrong?”

The hand formed and pointed clumsily to the window, then the door. Skirth frowned, but nodded, putting a finger to her lips to suggest that they be silent. She was tentative, her heart racing, as she moved to the window and ever so slowly twitched the curtain back.

“What the flying fuck!” she launched herself backwards, dropping the curtain. The drone was there, right up against the glass, shining a light into her eyes as she looked. “Okay, okay that’s not good…”

Footsteps. On the stairs, outside the room door. It was locked, but she wasn’t sure how long that would hold.

“Okay… okay,” she muttered to herself, glancing around the room. She was essentially unarmed, alone, without her symbiote, and without any way to escape. “Fuck.”

But her time with Carrion had taught her to handle herself under immense pressure. Her adrenaline tried to overwhelm rational thought, but she had practice in thinking through such times. She could focus on what she needed to do and panic later.

Priority one was to get out alive. Two, do not get caught. Three, do not let Venom get caught. That was more than enough to be going along with.

She looked to the container where Venom was pressing against all sides, pushing at the doorways and thumping against the glass.

“Good idea,” she approved, rushing to them. “Please don’t eat me. Carrey would be really upset.”

Venom went completely still as she activated the door of the container. They remained quiet as the mechanism clicked open, but as soon as the door opened they launched themselves out and around, latching on to her wherever it could reach and absorbing quickly.

**_I don’t have Carrion’s training, this won’t last long,_** they warned her. Their voice was distinctly more masculine than Carrion’s even though it was also derived from her own; she didn’t have time to dwell on that now, but academically that was fascinating. **_We need to eat._**

“You know Venom,” she found herself grinning. The sound of a battering ram assailing the door could be heard from the next room. “That sounds perfect. How about take out, courtesy of the Life Foundation?”

**_Delicious._** They spread over her skin, encasing her as she was so used to Carrion doing. It felt heavier with Venom, less like a second skin and more like an ill fitted suit. **_I can see why they like you._**

“Yeah well, unless you keep me alive they won’t have a host and neither will you,” Skirth reminded the symbiote. “I’m going to have to let you take the lead on this. Are you ready?”

**_Are you?_ **

They had drifted into the kitchen, facing the door which splintered and then cracked, a small gap opening up. Venom encased her completely as guide lasers shone through the hole, and she could feel their satisfaction as tendrils struck out, wrapping round the throats of the nearest soldiers and compressing swiftly, snapping cartilage and bone.

_Efficient. Don’t you prefer to eat them alive?_

**_There are more. They had guns._ **

Skirth laughed. _Coward. Carrion doesn’t care about guns._

**_Who are you to call me a coward?_** Venom snarled, symbiote coated hand tearing the remaining part of the door off its hinges. They launched down the hall, on all fours, ripping the carpet as they went.

_Momma bear’s host,_ Skirth reminded quickly when she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. _Can we focus on these guys?_

**_Fine._** Skirth was very familiar with how long Carrion’s tongue was, since when they were sharing control she could feel the appendage as an extension of her own. She was familiar with it also as a sensory organ, flicking out to taste the air when they needed to. She was not used to how Venom used it, stuck out all the time and rather unnervingly lashing back and forth, tracking the humans through the darkness that fell suddenly around them as all the lights were turned off. **_Why would they turn off the lights if humans have such bad vision in the dark?_**

_I guess they have night vision goggles._

Everything seemed still. Silent. There were definitely more than the original two who had tried to break down the door. Venom could taste them in the air, at least a dozen through the building with the distinct taste of Kevlar outfits. They followed the taste, tracking four of them to a nearby hotel suite.

_The switches are in arm’s reach of the door to the left,_ Skirth told Venom as she tried to reach to turn on the light and was overruled for control of her arm. _If they haven’t cut power to the whole building some light would be helpful._

**_How have they blocked the light from the windows?_** Venom questioned as they allowed her to flick the switch, carefully. Nothing happened. They had a very good point. It was bright daylight outside and there were windows in this hotel room, but there was more blocking the light than the curtains, nothing shining through.

_Tread carefully. Maybe we should just leave?_

**_I still need to eat._ **

_Fine… but, be careful._

A single torch lit as they moved further into the room, shining on two terrified hotel guests with guns to their heads. The couple had a child they were holding tightly between them, sheltering them from the soldiers. The light from the torch was enough to see the four, two holding the guns, one with the torch, one more who had a heavier gun pointed at them.

“Put up your hands and no one needs to get hurt,” the one with the torch ordered, clearly the one in command of the group.

**_These humans are of value to you?_ **

_No, but they are innocent. They shouldn’t have to die for being in the wrong place at the wrong time._

Venom hissed, snarling, easing slowly back into her skin. They kept control of her body, but disappeared from sight and, slowly, began to raise their hands.

_Are you kidding?_

**_I know. I don’t like it either, but guns are faster than I am. Unless you have a better plan…_ **

_The gun is faster. Their reflexes are not. Look at them, they’re already moving their fingers away from the trigger. Military training, never have your finger on the trigger unless you immediately intend to fire._

**_Hands up then attack?_ **

_Hands up then attack._

Skirth made a show of raising her hands the rest of the way, making her expression distressed and desperate, the helpless victim of the symbiotes who had kidnapped her. It must have been a convincing display, because even though the main gunman did not lower their weapon the other two even moved the gun barrels slightly away from the family’s heads.

Then all hell broke loose.

Tendrils struck out from her abdomen, wrapping around the gun hands of the two soldiers aiming at the family. Snapped them upwards and coiled round the triggers, shooting them both in the heads. Gunfire, from the one aiming at them. Venom surging, surrounding them in a protective layer and healing her shoulder where a bullet had grazed before they could cover it. The man with the torch, tossing something out of his hand that looked like a grenade, but landed at their feet and let out a surge of electrical energy.

Venom, shrieking, forced with a jolt to separate from her and re-join as quickly as the flash, but left her open to a bullet. Tearing, searing pain in her chest as it pierced her lung.

Launching at the leader, jaws clamping around his head. Rending and devouring until there was nothing left, that energy put into healing the wound in her chest. Rounding on the gunman, still firing but running out of bullets. Advancing, tasting with the long tongue.

Ripping him limb from limb with a hiss.

More of them, through the door. More gunfire, another electronic grenade. Launching to the ceiling, attached by tendrils, crawling to them over their heads and dropping on them, blood covering the walls.

Breathless, both of them, as they straightened up and looked over the scene.

_Are there more?_

Venom growled, tasting the air.

**_Outside. Not in here._ **

_Then let me take over for now,_ she insisted, waiting for them to absorb back into her skin before turning to the family, safe but terrified.

“It’s okay,” she promised, crouching down to their eye level, still a long way away. “It’s fine, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s a bit like… like the Hulk, you’ve heard of the Hulk?”

The tiny little boy nodded his head, his thumb stuck in his mouth.

“Hulk smash,” the child mangled the words around his thumb. She beamed, nodding.

“Yeah, Hulk smash,” she repeated, hoping it was reassuring.

“Bad men?” he asked, looking to the bodies, several with parts missing. Bile rose in her throat as she followed his eye. God, that was something no child should ever have to see.

“Yes, they were very bad men. They were going to hurt your mummy and daddy,” she looked to his parents, who were still holding him close and looked like they were more afraid of her still than the men who had been holding guns to their heads.

**_Why are they frightened? We saved them._ **

_Humans don’t go around tearing other humans apart Venom. Besides, the little one is just a child. Do you understand…_

**_Yes, yes, we have children too. They are… precious,_** a surge of sadness ran through her and it took her a moment to realise it was coming from Venom. **_They should not be put in danger like this. They should be protected at all costs._**

_You really are a sap, aren’t you?_ Skirth laughed softly before she realised she was doing so aloud, and the family looked more unnerved. “Look, I’m just trying to get you out of here to somewhere less… messy, could you just…?”

The little boy was already moving, and Skirth blessed the resilience of children as he squirmed out of his parent’s arms and hurried to her.

“I’m Jake,” he told her, looking awed rather than afraid. His terrified parents hurried to catch him but stopped before they reached her, fear written in their every feature.

“I’m Dora,” she told him, holding out a hand, glad that Venom had covered it when they fought so now it was blood-free. “Would you come with me so I can keep you safe, Jake?”

He took her hand with his tiny one, fingers only wrapping round two of hers. A whimper escaped from his mother, finally breaking her out of her frozen state and she rushed forward, shaking as she stood over them.

“Please…”

“Your boy is very brave,” Skirth smiled at her as she stood. “We’ll keep you safe.”

“I…” the woman clearly wanted to say more, but didn’t dare to. Her husband joined her, but Skirth and Venom judged him silently for keeping his wife between them.

“We’re just going across the hall,” Skirth promised them. “You can stay there until we get rid of the rest of the soldiers outside.”

“Will you smash them too Miss Dora?” the boy asked, wide eyed. She smiled down at him.

“No…” she began, before being overtaken by Venom, her face coated in a moment. **_“But I certainly will.”_**

_Venom…_ Skirth began to scold, stopping as the boy cheered. _Oh never mind. God he’s going to be so messed up by all this._

**_He is growing into a brave soldier,_** Venom praised. **_He will be strong._**

_I’m not sure that’s how it works for us humans, he’ll be traumatised,_ Skirth argued, but indeed the boy looked more delighted than frightened. He was also young enough that he might not remember this day in the future. _Let’s just hope he forgets._

They were not interrupted as they went across the hall. The guest there had been hostage of some of the soldiers and was tied to a chair, but not harmed. Skirth left them to release him, promised Jake once more that she would keep him safe, and set off back to her room.

**_Leave them._ **

“The computers are the only hard proof I have of what the Life Foundation were doing…”

**_You have Carrion, and you have me. Leave the computers. It might appease them, stop them chasing us for a while._ **

Skirth hesitated at her torn apart door, thinking about it.

**_We won’t be able to fight them with our hands full anyway._ **

“Fine,” Skirth sighed, “But we’re taking Eddie’s notebook. I don’t know how much he managed to take down, hopefully enough…”

**_Yes, yes, get it and let’s go._ **

It didn’t take more than a moment to find within the small bedroom, and then they were turning for the door only for Venom to start striding towards the window.

“Seriously?”

**_Coward?_** Venom taunted.

“It’s just so unnecessary, but sure, go ahead,” she shrugged, backing off and letting Venom take over completely. The symbiote extended from her skin, coating them protectively. “Drama queen. Remember, soldiers only, civilian bystanders are not food.”


	9. Evasion

“Did I tell you I was afraid of heights?”

 ** _You don’t need to be afraid of anything any more Eddie,_** Carrion reminded him. **_Not while I’m here._**

They had taken him, rather against his will, to the top of one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city. There, perched on the roof eating potato chips, they had given him back full control of his body and vertigo was taking over.

“Well I am. Afraid of heights. Really, really afraid. So, if we could go back down now?” he worried, staying far from the edge and trying to keep his eyes on the sky so that he could pretend he was on the ground and not hundreds of feet up on a rooftop with no obvious way down other than the way they had come, up the side of the building.

 ** _I told you I would show you what we can do together,_** Carrion complained. **_What did you think we would do?_**

“Anything but this, frankly,” Eddie swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth as Carrion walked him towards the edge.

**_There is no need to be frightened Eddie. No matter how far we fall, we will be there to catch you._ **

“How about we don’t fall at all?” he pleaded.

**_Well, fine, what do you suggest we do?_ **

“Could we maybe just… I don’t know, stop a few crimes? Do good things? You did say you wanted to present yourselves as helpful for the Avengers,” Eddie reasoned.

 ** _Eddie,_** Carrion steadily responded with measured words. **_You do realise how we deal with criminals, right?_**

“I…” Eddie blanched. “I think I can guess. The guy in the alley the other night…?”

**_Yes, Eddie._ **

He lapsed into silence and Carrion gave him the space to think, which he quickly bemoaned as he was left feeling all alone at the top of the tall tower. He went to sit in the middle of the roof so that there was no way he could see down. He still felt like he could feel just how high up he was. It wasn’t much better.

“Were you a soldier, where you came from?” he asked eventually of the symbiote. Carrion huffed, sounding disgusted.

**_I was a scientist._ **

“Then how did you get so… mean?”

 ** _I am not ‘mean’._** They sniffed, head rising from his shoulder and facing him as he had seen them do several times from Skirth. The sensation was odd but not unpleasant. “ ** _I am used to working towards a goal, and achieving it.”_**

“And your goal this time is to get me to accept Venom?”

**_“Yes. You have been pretending not to realise, choosing to go with the idea that you have some degree of choice in the matter, but you know you do not.”_ **

“You would force me anyway if I said no,” Eddie frowned. “Is Venom like you?”

**_“No. They are more like you. That is why you were chosen.”_ **

“You know, I’ve been playing along because otherwise you’d have forced me before now,” he pointed out. “I should be fucking terrified.”

**_“But you are not.”_ **

“No,” he sighed. “I can feel you, at least your emotions. You’re not doing any of this out of spite or anger. You’re genuinely concerned for Venom, and maybe a little bit for me? That helps.”

**_“That’s good.”_ **

“And because I can feel you, I know that you brought me up to this rooftop to make me decide, and if I don’t agree you’re going to throw us off the building and only catch us when I agree. Am I right?”

**_“You are insightful.”_ **

“Shit,” he breathed, hugging his knees to his chest. “Please don’t do that. I really hate heights.”

**_“It would be helpful if you would decide soon. We really should be getting back. I didn’t like that van any more than Dora did. They are getting bold. I would prefer if we get back before they can try anything.”_ **

“I don’t have much of a choice,” he shrugged. “I… do agree though. Not because you’re forcing me. That’s a shitty move on your part.”

**_“Then why?”_ **

“Because I’ve seen how you are with Doctor Skirth,” he smiled, as much as he could when he was still hundreds of feet in the air and conscious of that fact. “The way you care about each other, the way you’re bonded, how she looked when she realised you wouldn’t be with her even though it was only temporary. ”

 ** _“Would you mind telling her that when we see her?”_** Carrion demanded bitterly.

“I think she knows,” he assured. “If anything she’s just in denial of it because she might be afraid.”

**_“When we get back, you will bond with Venom?”_ **

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded. “I’ll do it. Now, not to be pushy, but could you get us down?”

 ** _“Close your eyes,”_** the symbiote ordered, silencing Eddie’s protests as they encased them entirely and cutting off his access to their senses so that he could not feel it when they quickly climbed down the side of the building and hurried away across the rooftops back to the hotel.

* * *

 

**_She was right. Damn._ **

Six large vans were parked in the street, more vehicles positioned in the surrounding streets to cut off any escape attempts, and drones buzzed around the building providing eyes on every potential exit including the windows of every floor. In all it was a very comprehensive effort, and not something that a singular human woman on her own would be able to face.

“What do we do?”

 ** _Help them of course,_** Carrion rolled their eyes. **_But what if they’ve already got her? If we attack they might hurt her…_**

“If they’re holding her hostage, that means they’ve got Venom too…”

They were saved any further argument as a window smashed two floors up and a jet-black figure dropped from it, landing on top of one of the vans and crumpling it inwards. It leapt from the roof onto the gunmen surrounding it, fighting all of them at once with an outburst of sharp tendrils.

 ** _Say hello Eddie,_** Carrion suggested, sounding proud. **_Look at them go._**

Venom was tearing through the groups of soldiers, seemingly unaffected by their bullets and avoiding the grenades they threw, explosions of electricity causing flashes in the street but otherwise ineffectual because the symbiote was moving so quickly, efficiently dispatching one soldier after another.

 ** _Anatomy knowledge meets the vigour of youth,_** Carrion praised. **_Well, we’d best go help them._**

“They don’t look like they need any help,” Eddie commented before Carrion could close themselves entirely around him.

 ** _My girl can handle herself,_** Carrion agreed. **_But I will not make her do so alone._**

They were falling from the rooftops, and Carrion hadn’t blocked his access to his senses. Eddie would have screamed if he had been able to access his voice, but they were blocking it from him. He had a temptation to hold on tight, as if on a rollercoaster, but though his hands did form fists briefly that was also overruled quickly as Carrion formed their fingers into blades, launching at the nearest guard and cutting effortlessly through the armour.

_That’s Kevlar!_

**_So?_ **

_That’s meant to be bulletproof!_

**_Well… good for us we’re not a bullet,_** Carrion scorned, taking down another half a dozen guards with a lash of a tendril that looked like a whip but sliced like a blade. **_Your technology would benefit from a few of our scientists with a good lab._**

 _On your left!_ He wasn’t quite in time to notice the grenade, and Carrion seemed not to care until it struck. Screeching and recoiling violently, closing too tightly around him for a moment in a shape more suited for Skirth – perhaps perfectly moulded to Skirth’s body, but too tight on him, winding him. Expanding with a rush of anger and overriding his instant breathlessness they were moving, leaping over the van and onto the group that had thrown the grenade, ripping them apart.

 ** _Well that wasn’t pleasant,_** they complained dryly when they were through. **_Best watch out for those in the future. Nearly took your head with me, was still holding on when it hit…_**

 _Please try not to decapitate me,_ he tried to sound like he was making a joke, but the whole situation was far too serious for him. The sooner it was over the better. _Really, please try._

 ** _I will not let you be hurt either, Edward Brock,_** Carrion dove at the last group of soldiers, on the other side from where Venom did the same. Their tendrils tangled together around the soldiers, entrapping them in a web before tightening, squeezing, killing.

 ** _“Hello again Venom,”_** they rumbled, drawing the tendrils back within but keeping themselves wrapped around Eddie.

**_“Carrion. I should probably warn you, your doctor is, as the humans would say, pissed.”_ **

**_“Yes, I assume she is. I also assume it won’t make any difference if I say sorry?”_ **

**_“We need to go,”_** Venom spoke, but it was evident that Skirth had supplied the instruction from the rote way he spoke the words. **_“We need to get under cover before we draw back in. Make it so they can’t find us, if not the Life Foundation then at least the news crews.”_**

 _That’s a good idea,_ Eddie prompted. _The last thing we need is the news coming after us or worse them being able to identify our human selves to the Avengers. They don’t know we’re not alien invaders yet, all the news cameras have seen is us killing and that won’t look good._

 ** _“Eddie agrees,”_** Carrion reported, looking around for the best escape route. **_“Follow me. And keep up?”_**

 ** _“Questioning your host’s stamina?”_** Venom taunted.

**_“Questioning yours. Lounging around without a host for months. Lazy.”_ **

**_“Whose fault was that?”_** Venom grumbled, following as they clambered up the wall of a nearby building and began roof hopping.

 ** _“We need cover,”_** they told Venom. **_“Keep a look out. A public place, with a back room we can slip into from the outside and then go inside and blend with the crowd.”_**

They skirted a few more streets before they saw the perfect target, heading in that direction without hesitation. The shopping mall even had its delivery doors open, giving them a way in without alerting the staff or shoppers. They dropped through, taking note of the three drones that followed them to the entrance. Carrion was quicker than Venom, lashing out at them all at once, smashing them against the walls.

 ** _“Hurry now,”_** their tongue emerged, tasting the air. Eddie could not make sense of the result, but Carrion directed them swiftly through into an isolated back room, shelves stacked high with shoe boxes. **_“We have to blend in with the crowd before they get into the mall.”_**

Eddie stumbled as Carrion seemed to suddenly disappear and he took back control of his own muscles. For a moment he thought they had left him completely, but there was still a sensation of movement beneath his skin.

Across the room Venom dropped away from Skirth, who took the return of muscle control with much more dignity than he had managed. Her eyes were narrowed at him, caution apparent in her professional manner, back straight and tense.

“Hey?” he managed, his mouth feeling dry under her scrutiny. “Errm…”

“Carrion?” Skirth demanded. Eddie let out a sigh of relief as the symbiote took over. At least that look wasn’t actually intended for him.

 ** _“Yes, yes I know, I shouldn’t have left, it was a huge risk,”_** they spoke with his mouth. **_“However, look at the progress that has been made in so little time. Things have gone perfectly to plan.”_**

“To plan!” she was advancing on him, forcing him to back away until he hit the shelves.

**_“Can we get out of here first, and then I can explain?”_ **

Skirth paused, still invading his personal space. Eddie had his hands up to head level, not sure whether to keep the gesture of surrender or protect his face. The way Skirth was looking at him he half expected her to hit him.

“This is not over,” she capitulated a moment later, taking a step away. Her expression softened. “Come on Eddie. I recognised this place on the way here. If we’re in the shop I think we are, there’s a coffee shop across the way. I could really do with the caffeine right now.”

Sneaking into the shoe shop was easy, with the door to the store room hidden conveniently around a corner that also led to a secondary entryway intended primarily for disability access. Eddie was reminded by Carrion that they had shared experiences with Skirth for months, and the last visit they had made to this particular shopping mall had been together. Their choice of venue and entry was made intelligently, not impulsively.

The scorn with which those comments were imparted to him would have been disconcerting if he could not feel the overruling sense of uneasiness from Carrion. He was not sure whether the symbiote was more apprehensive about them being found, or about having to explain themselves to Skirth. He would not dare to voice it, but he suspected Skirth was their more pressing concern.

They did get a table at the coffee shop easily, Carrion reminding him that they would look suspicious if he was always checking over his shoulder and assuring him that if they were found they could easily deal with those who followed.

“We’re going to need a place to stay,” Skirth told him after a while and what he suspected was an internalised conversation with Venom. “Together. Like it or not, you’re a part of this now.”

“I know,” he agreed freely. He didn’t particularly think it would be a good idea to argue with her, especially having already promised Carrion. “Do you think they know I’m involved?”

“The Life Foundation’s drones definitely saw you come to the hotel, but the news reporters have no way to know that unless they’re told,” she shrugged. “I’d say we’re safe for now, until Drake decides to send another group in our direction.”

“You’ve been on the run for months, why send them after you now?”

 ** _Because_ I _left with you Eddie. I am not sure how they knew, perhaps they had monitoring devices within the building,_** Carrion responded as Skirth explained exactly the same thing in similar terms.

“And now they know that Venom is out?” Eddie frowned. “Would they try again?”

“I doubt it. They didn’t dare last time because they knew that they would die, if they tried,” Skirth shrugged. “That risk has only doubled.”

**_Things will still be problematic, if we remain as we are. Remind her._ **

“Carrion wants me to tell you that there will still be a problem,” Eddie fed back. The symbiote impressed caution upon him. They did not want to speak for themselves, even with his voice, because there was potential for the abrupt change in voice to be overheard by others at the shop and draw unwanted attention.

“Yes. Venom is impatient as well,” she frowned, pausing and likely conversing with the symbiote for a moment. “They cannot maintain themselves for much longer.”

She was regarding him with suspicion again, waiting for an answer to a question she had not asked.

“It’s fine,” he nodded, resolved. “It’s too late for me to turn back, so I’m all in.”

“Carrion?” Skirth’s tone was sharp. “Is he telling the truth?”

He felt his head jolt upwards and downwards again, abruptly and without his control. Her responding laugh was bitter, distrusting.

“You realise we have no choice _but_ to trust him now? You can’t hold him back if he runs or tries to hurt either of you when you leave his body and unless he behaves himself Venom could die.”

**_She seeks reassurance. We should go somewhere where I can speak with her myself._ **

“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured. “If Drake isn’t sending anyone else, and you’re sure about that, we could go to my place? Not forever, just until I could pick up some of my things maybe?”

“And exchange symbiotes,” Skirth suggested. “That way you don’t have to look so much like a frightened rabbit all the time and I can have a proper chat with Carrey.”

**_And I can collect on my bet._ **

“Carrion says…”

**_Don’t tell her I said that!_ **

“Fuck! Erm, ouch?” he had drawn the eyes of several of the other patrons with his sudden exclamation. He rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of an immediate headache. A pair of elderly ladies holding hands at a nearby table tutted at him in unison. He gave them a helpless and apologetic look. “Sorry, erm, Tourette’s?”


	10. Introducing

For computers that contained such sensitive information the lack of encryption was astounding. It had taken less than five minutes to get through the security of the entire collection and download every file, spreading them on interactive holographic displays throughout the room. The original computers were expensive, but their technology was sub-par, at least compared to his own. He preferred to be able to see everything at once, the full picture displayed before him.

They had known for a long time that the Life Foundation were doing things they shouldn’t, but even the best surveillance had not revealed the truth hiding in the most secure labs. The people who were dying in their experiments, the risks they were taking.

Aliens.

Plural. It was no secret that they had brought one back with them when the rocket crash landed. They were still causing havoc halfway around the world, but the team had no jurisdiction there since the Accords and until the creature strayed into other countries they could only watch, wait, and hope that someone could stop them before they hurt any more civilians.

But there were more. Three, brought back on the ship. Two potentially still alive and running around LA.

The news footage had been released before he could stop it, and many people had already seen these terrifying creatures, these symbiotes. They had made the top spot on the evening news country wide. The two had obliterated more than thirty soldiers sent by the Life Foundation, possibly in an attempt to contain the risk they posed.

But, the data on the computers suggested something very different. The Life Foundation were not altruistic. It was a safe bet that the symbiotes, however they had managed it, had escaped the lab at the same time as the computers stopped synchronising with the Life Foundation’s servers, which was nearly eight months ago now.

There were trends in data that they had been monitoring ever since the anomalies arose. Criminals disappearing from the streets of LA, crime rates dropping. No sign of any would-be superheroes running around the streets. No pictures in the papers. They had been searching for some time for signs of a new big bad; a new mob boss taking control of the territory.

Could it truly be that the aliens were the ones making criminals disappear and protecting the people of the city?

His once damaged heart raced in his chest, skipping beats as breaths came with greater difficulty. The room around him, the images on the screens, all swam as his vision blurred. Panic attack. He had to sit down, had to breathe… had to get a suit, had to check this out. Had to do _something_ , but he wasn’t sure what.

He would start with the Life Foundation, see if he could learn more. Better that than trying to take down these aliens on his own.

* * *

 

“I need a minute,” Eddie caught Skirth’s arm as a thought came to him.

He was going to be on the run. He may never come back here. He certainly wouldn’t be able to use his bank cards once the Life Foundation identified him. It might already be too late for that.

He didn’t have much money anyway. Months of living in poverty had taught him to be frugal, but even with all of that he was in huge amounts of debt. He had thought he was able to stay afloat for another month at the most, but after that? He was already living out of food banks. He had an eviction notice for his studio apartment. He was, essentially, going to be on the streets at that point.

Perhaps that was why he was so ready to take this chance, to risk everything in joining with this madness, with Doctor Skirth and these symbiotes.

There were, however, people who were even worse off than him. They included Maria, who was huddled at the end of the street, out in the cold and surviving on the donations of kind strangers every day.

**_If they can track you from your bank cards, this is not a good idea._ **

“They wouldn’t need to track me here. We’re going to my home,” Eddie reminded Carrion, who was uneasy. Skirth and Venom had remained outside the shop. “It’s the least I can do.”

**_It is fortunate that you and Venom will have us. You are too soft for your own good,_** Carrion scolded him, but waited impatiently for him to take his last hundred dollars of his overdraft from the bank. **_The woman behind the counter is watching us._**

“It’s alright, she’s a friend,” Eddie reassured, pocketing the money and nodding to the shopkeeper as he left.

“Got what you needed?” Skirth was tapping her foot, as impatient as her symbiote.

“Nearly done,” he shrugged, apologetic, walking past her to the pile of blankets. “Hey Maria?”

Maria had fallen foul of some unpleasant people over the last month or so, and her left eye was still surrounded by a bruise that had begun to fade from black to yellow. Her cheek was still swollen – he had worried that it might be broken, and had bought her painkillers for it, but kept the stock so that she could only get one day’s dosing at any one time. He knew she wouldn’t use it for recreation. He was worried, as desperate as she was, that worse things might happen if she had too many with her.

Despite her injuries she still managed to smile at him, a little lopsidedly.

**_Who did this to her?_** Carrion demanded, and he found that they projected the taste of blood onto his tongue. He found that he didn’t mind; if he had been strong enough, he would have gladly killed the man who did this to her when it happened.

“I’ve got something for you,” he said instead, offering Maria his hand. She winced as she took it, her shoulder still aching.

“Hey, this isn’t the medicine?” she looked at the money as though she couldn’t work out what it was. Before he could answer, even try to explain, he heard the clicking of heels behind him and Maria shrank down into her blankets, pulling one upwards to cover her bruised face from view.

Skirth passed him, jaw clenched and hands clenched into fists. He was tempted to pull her away, nervous that Venom might be in control and might hurt his friend, but Skirth knelt down next to Maria, gently tugging the blanket away from her face. Maria kept her eyes down, looking ready to fight or run.

“Who did this to you?” Skirth demanded, a little of Venom’s growl in their voice. Maria shrank down yet more.

“Hey, give her space,” Eddie caught Skirth’s wrist, pulling her away. “It’s okay Maria, this is one of my friends. She’s a doctor.”

“I don’t trust doctors,” Maria muttered, shuffling back along the wall a few more feet.

“I’m not medical doctor,” Skirth corrected them both. “I’m a scientist. But I might be able to help?”

**_We could help. But we would scare her._ **

Eddie saw, in his mind’s eye, Carrion running along his arm and into Maria. The bruising fading away as they took control, and then returned to him.

“She’s healing on her own, she wouldn’t want that.”

Maria and Skirth took his response as an answer to her suggestion, so his response did not seem out of place, but Carrion knew it was for them and he perceived a sense of acknowledgement and sadness from them.

“Then at least take this,” Skirth demanded. She had a bag that she always kept strapped to her waist, which had come with her from the hotel. From it she drew a roll of notes; he recognised it as a roll of ten dollars, whilst the bag still contained a similarly large roll of twenties. If he were to guess, he would suspect there was at least a thousand dollars in that one roll. “There’s a cheap motel three blocks over, do you know the one? You could stay there a while.”

Maria didn’t take the money, though she looked at it longingly. She kept her arms wrapped in the blankets, seeking Eddie’s eye for guidance.

“It’s okay Maria,” he assured, taking the roll of notes from Skirth and passing it to her himself. “It’s yours.”

“They will take it,” she murmured, still hesitant. “You should keep it, all of it. If I could… bit by bit…?”

“Who will take it?” Skirth’s Venom sharpened voice demanded. Maria flinched back again.

“The same people who hurt you before?” Eddie checked, Maria nodding. “Will they be back tonight do you think?”

Maria nodded again.

**_Perfect. I’m hungry._** Carrion’s vicious smile graced his own features. It felt very strange to him; he wondered how startling it must look to poor Maria, but he couldn’t agree with the symbiote more.

“Come around the corner so I can see you from my window,” Eddie suggested. “When they come we can help get rid of them.”

“There are too many. They brought knives last time. You would get hurt,” Maria frowned. Beside her Skirth straightened to her full, diminutive height, looking scary regardless.

“They’d need much more than a knife,” they grinned. “Let them try.”

Maria did come with them, though Eddie suspected she did so more out of fear of Skirth than that she actually wanted to. He helped to support her as she limped. Her entire left side was a mess still, her right only saved because it had been in contact with the ground where she had curled up when her attackers had beaten her.

**_Keep your hands on her, do not let go._ **

Carrion’s indignation inspired by Maria’s injuries bubbled over into his own mind as cold fury, distracting him from the feeling of the symbiote running under his skin and from his hand, sinking rapidly into Maria’s back. His friend yelped, the sound of a kicked dog, trying to stagger away from him only to be stopped by the symbiote engulfing her.

“It’s okay, it’ll be okay,” he reassured frantically, hugging her close and hating the fear in her eyes. “I promise you’ll be okay.”

Skirth had stopped and was checking up and down the street, pulling them both into a nearby alcove to make it more difficult for anyone checking out of their windows to spot them.

“Carrion, what the hell?” she demanded, as calm and collected as ever, as though this was something they did every day.

“They’re healing her,” Eddie could already feel the symbiote wrapping around his arm, pulling all the way out of Maria and sinking in to him. Her wounds healed and her strength restored, Maria was able to tear herself out of his arms and almost screamed, but Skirth caught her in time, wrapping a Venom-coated hand over her mouth.

“Calm the fuck down,” she spoke in a dangerous whisper, far more powerful than a yell. “Feeling better?”

Maria was so frightened that it took her a few seconds to recognise that she had been healed. She slowly lifted her arm, testing her shoulder, felt around her eye tentatively, and faced Eddie with a completely different look in her eye than moments before.

“It’s okay, I think you can let go now,” Eddie told them, and Skirth backed away a few steps.

“What are you?” Maria wondered aloud, looking at them as though they were a guardian angel.

“It doesn’t matter,” he deflected quickly. “You’re okay now?”

“Yeah,” she looked between them. “You’re those guys on the TV, aren’t you?”

**_“Damn,”_** they swore together. Skirth had tensed, but did not otherwise react. “Umm, I guess so? I haven’t seen what they’re showing…”

“Are you sticking around?” Maria didn’t look frightened any more, which he took to mean that she hadn’t seen anything too awful in the news footage.

“We’re going to Mr Brock’s flat,” Skirth cut in. Maria spun, suddenly seeming to be reminded that the scientist was behind her. “But we will be here, when the people who hurt you come back.”

“Well then,” Maria nodded. “I agree with the kid. You’re trying to be heroes, like the hulk?”

“I guess so?” Skirth flushed. Carrion fluttered curiously under his skin; Eddie could sense their curiosity.

“I don’t suppose the money’s still up for grabs?” Maria questioned cheekily. Eddie laughed; that was the Maria he knew, before that awful group of youths had broken her.

“Here,” he had kept it, so handing it to her was no problem. Carrion didn’t object. Maria took the cash and slipped it into her coin tin, usually filled with people’s coppers. “Go get settled in, make sure you’re where I can see you. That’s my window, third up.”

He pointed out what he hoped was the correct one – close enough if not – and took Skirth upstairs.

“It’s a shame I can’t just let her stay here, when we leave,” Eddie commented. “I’d be worried someone might come search the place looking for me though. She’d be safer at a hotel.”

“If she stays where I suggested we could go back in a few months, give her some more money,” Skirth suggested. “Then we know she has a roof over her head in the long run?”

“That would be nice,” he agreed, unlocking his apartment door. The cool draft hit them right away; he hadn’t had money for heating for weeks, and it was cold at night just now. He picked up the firelighter from the phone table, lighting the candles with practiced ease. He hadn’t the money for electric either.

“I think I’m starting to understand,” Skirth took one of the candles and used it to light some others across the room. “You’ve not really got anything to lose.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said the Life Foundation took everything from me,” he agreed. “It feels good to get back at them.”

“Venom approves,” Skirth grinned after a pause where the symbiote spoke with her internally. “Is Carrion getting as impatient for this to be done?”

**_I am keen that we do not delay,_** they told him. **_I am trained to interact with an incompatible host; Venom is not. I am struggling to maintain complete symbiosis. Venom, by now, will be struggling not to hurt her._**

“Yeah,” he translated. Carrion huffed.

**_I thought you made a living from talking? Can you not be more eloquent?_ **

“No, I’m not a fancy pants scientist,” he taunted. Skirth scowled at him. He flinched. “Erm, I’m… nervous?”

“It’ll be fine,” she rolled her eyes. “Give me your arms?”

They linked forearms, Eddie thinking that her grip was a little too tight but not commenting.

“Carrion,” she immediately prompted. “You first, move to me. I’m not taking the risk of losing you if he runs.”

**_“Venom and I cannot share you,”_** the symbiote reminded with his voice. **_“And Edward will not run.”_**

“I’ll believe that once you’re back with me,” she tightened her grip further; he thought he might bruise. Against Skirth’s demand, Venom and Carrion both began to move, drawing out of their current host bodies and onto the surface of the other’s arm. Both sank in at almost the same moment, and then it was done.

**_Hello, Eddie._ **


	11. Hunger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that’s enough from Carrion/Eddie’s POV. Back to our girls. Don’t get me wrong Eddie/Ven are sticking around but enough of their thoughts about things, Eddie is too sweet for me to do justice with for long.

The news report was on loop. The footage of them fighting had to be highly edited and censored, with the general public as a rule not being subjected to the sight of bodies being torn apart limb from limb, but the reporters could describe the scene to fill in any gaps. Somehow it hadn’t felt as messy when they were there as it looked on the screen.

It would cut to the family they had saved, the parents and child, interviewed by the reporter who asked them questions about the violence. The child repeatedly waved his incredible hulk toy and declared that they were a ‘girl-hulk’. Venom growled at that from where he and Eddie were digging in the fridge for snacks, and Skirth got the impression that they were telling Eddie the story of what happened whilst they were still in the hotel.

The report went on to an official statement from the Life Foundation, who tried in vain to make it sound like they were trying to help save the world from dangerous invaders but looked terrible in light of the report which emerged after that, straight from the Avengers themselves.

The Life Foundation was to be shut down with immediate effect and Drake was to be investigated for bringing potentially dangerous aliens to the planet. He was to be charged with at least accessory to murder in hundreds of cases across the world; the deaths of the soldiers he had sent to catch Venom and Carrion, as well as those who had died abroad.

The fifth segment of the cycle had Carrion and Venom alike hooked to the screen. The footage was generally grainy, largely obtained from CCTV, but it was also unmistakably another symbiote.

“Drake told us they were dead,” Skirth told Eddie, perturbed. “There were only four symbiotes on the ship, and one died in the experiment.”

**_“That is Riot. They were the leader,”_** Carrion shifted uncomfortably. **_“They are ruthless, trained to subjugate worlds. They are unlikely to be turned from that path.”_**

Skirth could sense Carrion’s unease, understand it in a way they did not openly communicate. _You feel a sense of obligation to them. Would you join them, if they asked?_

**_I… would not,_** they responded uncertainly. **_I would fight them, if I had to. Now._**

_But you would have, back when we first encountered one another?_

**_You would have been just another host if Riot had been in the lab. I will not apologise for that. This is the nature of my species._ **

_Humanity are hardly paragons of peace, Carrey,_ Skirth considered. _Individuals can go against the crowd, but in times of conflict we even hurt our own. I can hardly blame you for not caring about another species you don’t even know._

**_Thank you for understanding. Anyway, it hardly matters. Things are different now._ **

_For you perhaps,_ Skirth looked to Eddie, who was still engrossed in the television report and a bag of tater tots. _Who would Venom side with, you or Riot?_

**_Venom despises Riot,_** Carrion gave her a sense of Venom’s interactions with Riot, being treated like the dirt under a boot, letting Skirth understand. **_They would take any opportunity to defy him._**

“Well, I guess the ship has sailed on me being the one to announce symbiotes to the world,” Eddie interrupted their internal conversation.

“Yes. I would have hoped for better circumstances,” they sighed. “It is not a good thing that the first the world knows of us is killing.”

“But killing soldiers from the Life Foundation,” Eddie pointed out. “If the Avengers are investigating, maybe the truth will out about them.”

“I wouldn’t be too hopeful. The reports are all about them bringing symbiotes to Earth,” they sighed. “The media have a tendency to cover up the crimes of big corporations, and Drake has a lot of influence. If he can he will make it look like he was a victim in all of this. If we hadn’t lost the computers we could have proven his crimes.”

“Sorry about that,” Venom spoke with Eddie, the words coming from the symbiote but their voices combining easily, almost naturally. Skirth gave them a sidelong glance. They were taking to their symbiosis extremely well, considering. She wasn’t sure what they were saying to one another in their head but there was a lack of the conflict she recalled from when Carrion had become a part of her. “We took the notebook.”

“Oh, yes, thanks for reminding me,” Skirth retrieved it from her pocket, the small notebook creased, crumpled and slightly torn but the writing still legible. “I’m not sure how much use it will be, but…”

Eddie looked absolutely delighted as he took it from her, flicking through the pages. “No, this is great, this is… the news need a source for their information, they need a reason to believe it, and I know the computers would have been good too but… they have us. All of us.”

“Fat lot of good that will do,” Skirth rolled her eyes. “Do you actually expect us to walk into some news station, show off our symbiotes and expect that to end well?”

“You’d be surprised,” Eddie noted, but looked conflicted. “We could make a video? You could talk. We wouldn’t need to reveal the symbiotes – you used to work for the Life Foundation. That would be enough…”

**_“Eddie,”_** Venom’s head had formed on his shoulder, along with a hand that flicked their host on the forehead. **_“Food first.”_**

**_That actually sounds like a very good idea,_** Carrion agreed, allowing just a little of their own discomfort to show to Skirth. To the human the glimpse of the hunger her symbiote was experiencing was all-consuming. It was all she could do not to throw herself over the back of the sofa and go raid Eddie’s fridge. **_How long before the takeaway arrives?_**

They meant the hooligans who had attacked Maria, so they went to the window to check on their new friend. Carrion asked Skirth to remind them later to speak with Venom about that. It had taken the more experienced symbiote a huge amount of effort to keep Maria alive and to heal her; it had left them hungry, drained. If Venom tried to do the same thing with so little training they would probably end up accidentally killing the one they tried to heal. It would be a disaster. It was also exactly the kind of thing they would try to do, and be devastated by later.

**_We won’t be able to wait for too long,_** Carrion shifted restlessly, tapping Skirth’s foot impatiently on the uncovered floorboards.

**_“Eddie’s neighbour is unpleasant,”_** Venom supplied, large toothy mouth extending into a facsimile of a smile. **_“We could eat him?”_**

“No! Nope, no, not happening,” Eddie grabbed hold of the arm of the chair as Venom tried to make them stand. With his augmented strength they stood, but lifted the heavy furniture with them. “Venom he’s not food, he’s a good person he’s just loud…”

**_“But he annoys you and he has been rude to you,”_** Venom explained, almost patiently. **_“You have thought about punching him before…”_**

“There’s a difference between punching someone and _eating_ them!”

“I’m drawing a line under this,” they spoke with the growl of Carrion strengthening their command. “We’re not going to eat him. If they don’t come for Maria soon we will go find someone bad rather than waiting here.”

**_“They are bad. To Eddie,”_** Venom sulked, silenced when Carrion flicked a tendril at their extended head.

“We’re famous now, we can’t just eat whoever we want to,” they reasoned. “You are young and foolish, Venom. You would do well to listen to your host.”

If the symbiote had any reply to that they did not hear it, with Eddie keeping his mouth firmly closed.

Perhaps they weren’t such naturals at this after all.

**_They are learning. It will come. Quicker for them than us, I should think,_** Carrion moved under and over Skirth’s skin in a caress, startling her. Recoiling from the touch did nothing to remove it, but Skirth did so anyway instinctively. Carrion drew entirely back within, huffing. **_He does not run from it._**

_I’m not running. You’re just… weird,_ Skirth scowled, trying to direct her attention to the street outside and ignore the pointed feelings of rejection the symbiote flooded her with. _You see, that’s exactly what I mean. A minute ago you said you were hungry, and now you’re trying to… God, Carrey, I thought you would drop this. It’s a human thing, symbiotes don’t even…_

**_I want what you want,_** Carrion reminded her in a sing song tone. **_It is better than thinking about how hungry I am. Your liver looks delicious, by the way…_**

“Fuck!” Skirth yelped, feeling the symbiote move under the skin of her stomach.

“Are they here?” Eddie hopped up from the couch, rushing to the window. They caught him with tendrils and turned them back to their seat.

“No, it’s nothing,” they excused. _What the fuck Carrey?_

**_See, as topics of conversation go, wouldn’t you rather we flirt?_ **

_We could talk about science, or where we go from here, or how we get the news to the world… not…_

**_Boring._** Carrion growled aloud, the sound tearing out of their throat, making Eddie nervous. **_Maybe I should eat your spleen. Humans don’t really need their spleen, it can be removed and they live…_**

_Leave. My spleen. Alone._

**_…Our spleen._ **

_Not when you’re talking about eating it!_

**_…I could heal it later. Once we eat properly?_ **

_Are you actually serious?_ Skirth banged her fist on the window, cracking the glass. She was sure Eddie would be looking at her strangely, but fortunately he held his tongue.

**_… no,_** Carrion whined, emerging onto the surface of Skirth’s skin beneath her clothing as though to avoid temptation, surrounding her back and waist. **_I wouldn’t hurt us, I’m just so hungry. I need a hug._**

_Kinda hard to hug you when you’re inside me, unless you want me to get Eddie…?_

**_No!_** they tightened the ring around her, momentarily winding her. **_We don’t need anyone else._**

Skirth frowned, feeling the symbiote’s possessiveness and despair surfacing. There were boundaries between their minds, ones that Carrion carefully maintained for both their sakes. It told her a lot that they were not entirely intact just now. Her symbiote was finding this really difficult.

In an attempt to appease, she wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the symbiote move to her chest within the grasp of her arms and settle there, relatively contented. She sighed, stroking where the symbiote lay over her shoulder with one hand.

_You’re not slimy,_ she commented, not thinking it through. A flash of annoyance emerged from Carrion.

**_Why would I be slimy?_ **

_I don’t know, you just look…_ she stopped, realising she was only causing more offence.

**_We have been together for months and it has taken you this long to realise I’m not slimy?_** They grumbled. **_You really think we’re disgusting, don’t you?_**

_No,_ Skirth denied quickly. _Never that. I just… you do kind of look like you’re made up of tentacles most of the time._

**_We are not limited to your miniscule number of functional limbs. That does not mean you get to think of us like one of your Earth creatures. I am not an octopus._** The severity with which Carrion denied the assumption was enough alone to make Skirth have to bite back a chuckle. She had at least succeeded in distracting them from their hunger, though now she thought of it she could feel it too, gnawing away. Her hand paused in its stroking. **_I didn’t say you could stop._**

“I don’t need to ask for permission,” Skirth grinned, looking out into the street as a car pulled up, a few doors down from where Maria sat huddled in her blankets. “Besides, dinner’s here.”

**_“Food!”_** Venom’s roar echoed through the room and possibly the building as they wrapped themselves Eddie’s smaller form and charged on all fours to – and through – the glass. They smiled at the younger symbiote’s foolish over-eagerness, watching them land on top of the car and buckle in the roof.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Skirth offered, feeling Carrion shift and encase. She remained with her, not closing her mind and senses off as her symbiote took charge, neatly pouncing down from the window frame and loping after a couple of the group of thugs who had set off running.

_It feels good like this,_ Skirth told them, _powerful. Like we could do anything._

**_We can,_** Carrion laughed at her, pouncing onto a rooftop and down onto one of the thugs who had fled round the corner of the house. He didn’t get the chance to scream before Carrion’s teeth were around his head. **_We should not hide. Not from anyone, but especially not from this. We are Carrion._**

_We’re still hungry. Stop being picky,_ Skirth scolded as Carrion selectively pruned the organs they preferred. _You’ll leave a mess._

With a huff, Carrion rapidly finished what they were doing and launched twenty feet to the rooftops once more, following the trail the second running man left by tasting the air with their long tongue. He had stopped, hands on knees as he doubled over, vomiting at the side of the road. He looked like he couldn’t catch his breath.

**_Pitiful,_** they grumbled, choosing to give him a swift end. They were not unnecessarily cruel.

As they finished eating, Carrion did begin to drift back through Skirth’s skin but she stopped them. _Stay. It’s night. There’s no one watching, not in this neighbourhood. We need to go back to Venom._

**_We do,_** Carrion seconded, rumbling. Their hunger sated, they did not withdraw their strength but drew back their control, giving it to Skirth entirely. **_You can take us there? I know you like to run like this._**

Skirth sent a wave of affection their way, taking command of their limbs. Carrion didn’t let her do this often, keep control while they were encased like this. She was sure it took the symbiote some effort to maintain it. But she enjoyed it. The strength, the rush; the power to do anything. Having lived since her birth in her small, comparatively fragile form even in human terms, the contrast was intoxicating. They reserved this for very special occasions.

**_We succeeded,_** her symbiote reminded her. **_We found Venom a host. Better, a willing host. One he can bond with as I have with you. We have been striving for this for months, and now it is done. We deserve a reward._**

Skirth coiled exaggerated muscles, allowing the explosive power to carry her effortlessly to the rooftop and bounding away, knocking a few tiles loose as she did. She was not so coordinated like this as Carrion. _This is my reward?_

**_This is the start of something new,_** Carrion suggested instead. **_We are no longer beholden to Venom’s safety. They can look after themselves. We’re free._**

Skirth smiled. It was a delightful thought, one that she wished she could embrace, but she was not so naïve. _Not free. Not really. The world knows about us now._

**_Let them know. We are Carrion. We can take on your world._ **

_They can hurt us,_ Skirth reminded, exaggerating thoughts of the electronic grenade the Life Foundation had used, recalling also the noise frequency they had found harmful to the symbiotes in the lab, picturing flamethrowers and bombs. _They can kill us._

**_We will not let them,_** Carrion sounded so confident. Skirth could not bring herself to be the same. **_Not now I finally have you all to myself._**

_We still have Eddie and Venom around. We can’t just abandon them._

**_Why not? Venom is a grown symbiote. We’re not following the mission protocols anymore. Ergo he is no longer my trainee._ **

_Cold, mama bear,_ Skirth was almost lost, sure she had taken a wrong turn, then recognised Maria in the street below and realised she was atop Eddie’s apartment building. Maria was looking up at them. They were casting a shadow over the street, and when they looked round they realised that to Maria they would be silhouetted against the moon. Skirth smiled. _Shame she doesn’t have a camera._

**_It’s not cold,_** Carrion lingered on the accusation, some confusion in her tone. **_That is how it is for symbiotes. We care for our children, teach them how to maintain a host, and then they go on their way. You attribute human values onto another species._**

_I don’t know, Venom seemed pretty touchy with that kid, the one from the TV?_ She settled back on the rooftop, leaning against a doorway to the top of the fire escape. Venom was not on the street, probably back in the apartment already. They had time to take for themselves. _I think your species might be more into parenting than you like to admit._

**_Venom is soft,_** Carrion grumbled.

_And you’re not, huh, big tough scientist alien?_ She teased. _Who was it that wanted a hug earlier?_

**_That was different. We were hungry._** Carrion, agonisingly slowly, sank back beneath her skin and then rose up from her chest, a face suspended on a dozen tendrils, vaguely shaping a torso. **_“We take our needs from you.”_**

“I didn’t need a hug,” Skirth smiled knowingly. “Just you. Maybe how you react to emotions now comes from me, but those were your emotions, your needs. You can’t blame everything on me.”

**_“Doctor…”_ **

“I asked you not to call me that,” Skirth sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead. “God, I’m tired Carrey. It’s been a long day. For once could you not be so tense and formal? You’re the one who keeps saying we’re too separate from one another.”

**_“What do you suggest?”_** the symbiote questioned after a long hesitation, reaching out with a tendril to hesitantly neaten the stray hairs that Skirth had inadvertently pulled loose from her tight bun and into her face. The tendril came within millimetres of the skin but did not quite touch. There was something deliberate in the precision. Skirth chose not to question it.

“Why don’t we just stay here tonight? It’s safe, it’s peaceful. It’s nice, under the moon like this. And it’s just us,” she knew that idea would appeal to both of them. “We could… hug?”

Though she had expected other suggestions from the symbiote they did not come. They did not mention the bet, or challenge her in any way. The only slowly drifted back beneath her skin and formed a layer over her chest, as they had earlier, waiting for her arms to wrap around. Skirth hesitated.

**_Well?_ **

“I didn’t mean like that,” she admitted, picturing exactly what she had thought, what she wanted. A moment after she had she questioned how bold she was being. She was not used to making such demands to anyone, even her symbiote.

Carrion shifted, round to her back, the area they covered growing until they wrapped over the back half of her body closely, right to the nape of her neck. A pair of tendrils, vaguely arm shaped but without fingers at the hands, reached around to loop around her waist as a chin rested on her shoulder. Skirth let out her held breath, leaning back into the embrace, tilting her head so that the side rested against Carrion’s.

**_“Is this alright?”_** the symbiote’s voice was rumbling, but steady. Tentative.

“It’s perfect,” she smiled, allowing her eyes to drift closed. It had been a very long time since she had felt so safe, so secure.

And not alone. Even though Carrion was always there, this was different.

“ ** _Darling?”_**

“Hmm?”

The symbiote was silent for a long time, hand-like tendril tracing small circles on her stomach as sleep crept up.

**_“Sleep well.”_ **


	12. Foolish

Five rings. It always rang five times.

 _Beep. “_ Oh my God, oh my God, have you seen the news? Of course you’ve seen the news, what am I saying, I just… urgh, let me start again…” _click._

 _Beep_. “Sorry about that. I’ve seen the news Happy… I mean Mr Happy… I mean, wait, will Mister Stark listen to this? Sir… dang it…” _click_

 _Beep_. “Sir, do you remember that old movie? The one with the… Aliens? No, that sounds dumb. Sorry Sir, I’ll start over…” _click_

 _Beep._ “Sir. I have seen the news reports. Aliens in San Francisco?... Is it a hoax? Does Mr Stark know? Are you calling in the Avengers? Because I know I’m not officially an Avenger, Sir, but I know the team’s still short just now and I know I could be helpful and tomorrow’s the last day of school before the holidays and I can come to LA no problem and...” _Beep._

 _Beep._ “Sorry Sir, I got carried away. I just… do you even listen to these messages Sir? What if you don’t listen to these messages and it turns out you do need me there? What should I do Sir? What if you’re too busy to listen to these messages, and you’re too busy to deal with the aliens and they start hurting people Sir? Maybe I could…” _Beep._

 _Beep._ “Sir, you need to make your messages last longer I can’t say anything before it cuts me off! Sir, I want to help. I can help. I’m getting good at this. And there was that kid on the news, maybe these aliens aren’t bad aliens? I could investigate, Sir, that’s all I’m saying, I could investigate and that would mean you can do more important things, I’m sure you’re doing a lot of…” _Beep._

 _Beep._ “Eugh that’s so annoying. I’m sorry there’s so many messages Sir. You probably won’t even listen to them now. I saw on the news Sir, you’re going to take down the Life Foundation? That’s cool Sir, but what about the aliens? I could go Sir and make sure they aren’t bad guys. I mean, I know they were hurting those people but if the Life Foundation are the bad…” _Beep._

 _Beep._ “Sir I’m just gonna say this before it cuts me off again. Hopefully. Yeah. I’m going to school tomorrow, because I know you wouldn’t want me to miss school, even for this Sir. But then I’m off to LA. I have money saved up. I’m old enough to go on holiday alone. Aunt May’s going to be away as well, she booked to go skiing but I don’t like snow Sir so I’m not going, so it won’t even be a thing and…” _Beep._

 _Beep._ “Sir, I booked a train for six tomorrow, after school. If that’s okay, don’t answer this message, I’ll go and I’ll call you when I find them. If it’s not okay let me know before the train leaves and I’ll cancel it. I can do this Sir. I can do this… Flip, aliens? I can do this.” _Click._

* * *

 

“We should go.”

Eddie was not a morning person, but with Venom it was easy for his body to go through the actions of his morning routine whist he was still only half awake. The symbiote had guided him through a shower, brushing his teeth, and making a bitter strong black coffee to wake him up before Carrion arrived back.

“Where were you last night?” he asked, accusing. “Venom said you’d be fine but you didn’t come back.”

“We were on the roof. It was a nice night, full moon,” Skirth shrugged, ignoring his smirk.

“Sounds romantic,” he teased, delighted when she blushed.

**_That’s strange._ **

“What?” Skirth frowned.

**_You agree with him._ **

It was true, though Skirth was self-conscious about it. Last night, resting in the arms of her symbiote under the moon, separate from the world… it was nice. Maybe too nice. Her situation was almost unique, so no one but Eddie really had any right to judge her for it, but she was judging herself.

“It doesn’t matter,” she dismissed. “We really should go. I know we can fight them if they come for us but I wouldn’t like Maria to get caught in the crossfire.”

“Can I at least finish my coffee first?” Eddie grumbled, his cup still mostly full.

**_We should shower._ **

“Yeah, you’ll have time,” Skirth left him to it, agreeing with Carrion. “I’m such a mess.”

 ** _My mess,_** Carrion purred affectionately, fondness washing through their joined mind before the symbiote re-established the boundary. **_Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable._**

“No, it’s… it’s fine,” she set the shower running, finding the water cold even when turned up to high. Like the rest of Eddie’s flat, there was no power to the electric heater. “It would be a shame to go back to how we were after last night, wouldn’t it?”

Carrion purred, shifting to her back as they had the night before, extending a tendril arm behind hers and intertwining separate tendrils between her fingers. **_It would._**

Something was lingering in the back of her mind, a memory or a dream. She wasn’t sure, and she wasn’t brave enough to ask. “Think you can keep me warm while I shower?”

 ** _We are always warm,_** Carrion correctly noted. They did run hotter from the extended demands on her body from hosting the symbiote, but that only served to make the contrast to the cold water more dramatic. **_If I hold you your back will not get clean._**

“Then come round front while I wash my back,” she suggested, intended innocently but biting her tongue a moment too late. “I mean…”

 ** _Good idea,_** Carrion was already shifting, the hand remaining where it was entwined with hers as the symbiote’s main bulk covered the surface of her stomach. **_Like this?_**

“Yeah, like that,” she relaxed, stepping under the cold water. It was a shock to the system, and she gasped a little as she got used to it. “That’s nice.”

Too focused on adjusting to the cold of the water hitting her skin, she missed the emergence of another arm from Carrion until she felt its touch on her back, sponge coated in shower gel in hand. She almost slipped as she jolted away, startled.

“No, sorry, you just surprised me,” she was actually disappointed as Carrion’s arm withdrew, dropping the sponge to the floor.

 ** _You still don’t like me touching you, even though we’re a part of one being,_** the symbiote complained, collecting the sponge and shoving it into her free hand. They hadn’t released her other. **_It’s… fine._**

“Carrey, don’t be like that,” Skirth sighed as the symbiote closed their mind off completely. “Carrey, I didn’t mean to…”

**_Shut up and shower. You’re getting cold._ **

She couldn’t ignore the hurt in their tone, the way their words were clipped and sharp. She stared at the sponge in her hand, and squeezed the almost-fingers intertwined with hers. “Carrey, don’t do this. I know I’ve been… reluctant, to let you in but… I’m trying, I’m really trying.”

**_You shouldn’t have to try. This should be as natural as breathing. I am an extension of yourself, as you are of me._ **

“Maybe trying wasn’t the right word,” she bit her lip. “I don’t want to run from this any more.”

 ** _Then… you don’t mind?_** The hand re-emerged, wrapping around the sponge and hers.

“You really want to wash my back?” she wondered, expecting that the symbiote would take the chance for more.

**_This makes you feel good. Relaxed. I told you, darling, your wants are mine._ **

There it was again. That word, the one she had thought she had dreamed last night. The one she had thought she had heard, and wasn’t sure how to react to then. She had ignored it, but now…

“I like that,” she admitted softly. “Much better than doctor.”

 ** _You do?_** She almost found it sad, how much Carrion was surprised. Had she really been so awful that the symbiote thought even a term of affection too much for her.

“I do,” she reiterated firmly, silently encouraging the symbiote to press harder with the sponge, the pressure helping to release knotted muscles.

**_You have been tense… may I…?_ **

“Yes,” she agreed, releasing the hand that tried to draw out of her own. “Whatever you would like.”

Twin hands, larger than her own and stronger, stroked over the tense muscles of her back. She let her head drop forwards as they rubbed her shoulders, the thumbs making small circles just where her back met her neck and releasing the strain there, one of the muscles even making an audible pop as a knot was freed. She groaned softly before she realised that the sound had escaped, letting the shower cover the small noises she continued to make as the symbiote meticulously worked across and downwards.

 ** _This is wonderful,_** Carrion murmured, their hands resting over her hips as they reached the base of her spine. **_We have not relaxed so much, ever._**

Another reason for Skirth to feel guilty. It hadn’t been easy, with everything that had been happening and playing host to a parasitic alien, but Carrion was in fact right. As it was she was now so relaxed she didn’t want to move, her forehead rested on the cold tile and the water cool where it hit her back, contrasting almost pleasantly now that she was used to it with their heat.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so…” Cruel? Prejudiced? Judgemental? It was hard to know what to say, because all of those things were true but no matter what else they were, Carrion was still an alien parasite, and even playing host to them was something that society would consider abnormal. “Close minded?”

**_It is alright. It’s human nature._ **

“Carrey?” she murmured, her words covered by the fall of water. She was so relaxed, so content. She wanted to stay this way, she didn’t want to leave this state of duality with her symbiote. In that moment she wanted more, but she did not dare or know how to ask. “You remember the bet we made?”

 ** _Hmm,_** the symbiote shifted, sinking back within. **_What of it?_**

It should have been a warning that the symbiote withdrew so quickly, but she was too distracted by trying to express herself to notice their anxiety. _If I win, you admit it._ Those had been the terms. “I… do want you.”

As the silence dragged, she started to think she had not said enough, that Carrion was going to make her spell it out. But Carrion did not encourage her to continue, so she bit her tongue and waited.

The silence held, oppressive and too complete, until it reached a level of quiet that was disturbing. She could not pick up anything of what Carrion was thinking or feeling. She could feel them there, a part of her, but at the same time separate. Completely closed off.

“Carrey?” There was nothing. No response. “Carrey, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

Nothing still. She straightened up, rinsing off under the cold water, dwelling on what she had done that was so wrong. She could only think that she should not have mentioned the bet at all. She should have been brave enough to admit it without the bet.

“Carrey, I’m sorry,” she tried. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m so sorry. Please, say something?”

**_Enough. You should not be begging. It makes us look weak. Give me some space._ **

As ironic as that request was, Skirth did not find it amusing in the slightest. She wrapped a towel tightly around herself, somehow trying to simulate the feeling of Carrion encasing her, but the sensation was lacking. She sighed, turning her dress over in her hands. Before the lab, before Carrion, she would never have worn anything so tight fitting and revealing. It was a hunting dress, designed to attract awful men as prey. It was stained now, with blood and sweat, courtesy of their fights the day before. She did not want to wear it again, but all of her clothing had been left behind at the hotel.

“Eddie?” she called, hoping that he could hear her from the next room. Buildings like this didn’t typically have thick walls, but he didn’t reply. She cracked the door open. “Eddie? Can you hear me?”

Nothing. She made her way into the main room, to the set of drawers beside his bed. From there she couldn’t see him, and supposed he must be in the kitchen where they had left him.

“Doctor Skirth?” he sounded startled, no doubt by her state of undress, as he came out of the kitchen while she searched through his drawers. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” she snapped. “Finding something to wear.”

“Are you okay?” they asked with the rumble of Venom behind them. Skirth swore internally, damning them for their sweetness and perceptiveness.

“I’m fine,” she bit. That wouldn’t do, he would see right through that. “It’s none of your business.”

That was true at least, so she went back to rummaging, ignoring him until she felt large arms wrap around her, pulling her to his chest.

“You’re not okay,” they recognised, holding her close, her back to their front. Their arms were Venom-encased, too strong for her to even think of worming her way out of their hug. “What happened?”

She wished she was wearing her stilettoes, but instinctively in an attempt to get herself free she stomped her heel down on his toes anyway. It wasn’t enough to make him let go, but he did swear creatively until Venom healed the slight pain.

“Let. Me. Go,” she growled, ready to fight him if she had to for her release. He freed her immediately, backing away and holding up his hands, placating.

“I’m sorry, I was trying to help…”

“I don’t need your help!” she snapped, rounding on him. “We don’t need you, or Venom, or anyone else. We can look after ourselves.”

“O…kay,” Eddie backed away. “Did you have an argument or something?”

“I still fail to see what business that is of yours,” she selected a plain white shirt and some trousers that were probably meant to be three-quarter length on Eddie, taking a belt to secure them, and in an act of defiance started to get dressed right there, letting the towel fall. Eddie spluttered helplessly, turning his back. “If you have anything you want to take with you get it now. We’re going as soon as I’m dressed.”

And they did, but Venom’s impatience nearly caused problems when they tried to suggest travelling by the rooftops and Skirth had to refuse without Carrion responding to encase her and give her the strength to do so. Walking through the streets was something Skirth did not make a habit of unless she was hunting, and especially not amongst crowds. Her body temperature alone was enough to make the odd individual pay attention to her. On this occasion at least, she didn’t have to worry about anyone overhearing her if she accidentally spoke aloud in conversation with Carrion.

“I’ve stayed here before, it’s nicer than the last one,” she told Eddie as she booked them two rooms at the hotel they eventually wound up at. “It’s also in walking distance of the clubs, and a crime hotspot. If Venom gets peckish.”

“Where?” Venom demanded.

“I’ll show you if it comes to that. You shouldn’t need to eat again so soon,” she reminded, estimating that even if Carrion was doubly as good at this as Venom he could go at least two days before he needed to eat like that again. “Don’t go anywhere on your own. I don’t think anyone from the Life Foundation will be after us but the Avengers know about us now and I doubt that they’re just going to leave us to it.”

“We’re happy enough in the hotel tonight,” Eddie quashed Venom’s evident protest, the symbiote trying to clamp a tendril over his mouth. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay on your own?”

“I’m not going to be alone. Besides, Carrion and I need to have a little talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NB retcon, I had noted in this chapter that they were in LA, a bit of artistic licence vs film based San Francisco. I have been to LA and had a location in mind for a particular scene that I was going to write. However, that scene isn't in the story plan I went with so it doesn't matter any more, and San Francisco is where the film was set so it's back to there now.


	13. Reparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has been rated E since the beginning, and I'm not sure Venom fandom is all that SFW in general, but fair reminder for the NSFW in this chapter. Actually my first attempt to write sort of F/F in fic, not sure how that happened seems like the sort of thing I should surely have done before. I really don't know if I've actually pulled this off after the amount of slow-ish burn build up, but oh well, let's see shall we?

**_I don’t want to talk,_** Carrion snarled as soon as the door closed on their own room.

“Well I do, so you can listen,” Skirth slammed her few possessions down on the dresser; this particular hotel was intended for overnight stays, not like the motel they had stayed in last, and the rooms were just that; a bedroom, with a bathroom attached. She sat down on the edge of the enormous bed, working on the straps of her boots. She had been thinking about how to do this for hours, but now that she was talking all of her plans had gone from her mind. “I…”

I’m sorry. That’s what she should be starting with, even though she wasn’t sure exactly what she had done wrong, why the symbiote had reacted quite so badly.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” was as close as she could manage, immediately cursing her own cowardice. “What happened this morning was nice, until… yeah, and I didn’t want to run away again, okay? I’m not very good with words, Carrey, or at least I’m not good at saying what I actually feel and want.”

There was no response from the symbiote, not even a movement. She sighed.

“I think that’s why I went into the sciences, you know? I don’t have to work in possibly and maybe. I can make a hypothesis and prove or disprove it, eliminate questions. What we are Carrey, I still have so many questions, and they aren’t all ones that anyone can answer. A lot of them are questions of what is right, what would be morally acceptable, they involve feelings and I’m not… I’m not good with feelings.”

She was rambling pointlessly. She wished for something, anything from the symbiote, a reaction even if it were shouting, arguing. She still felt nothing, heard nothing.

“Carrey, you know how I feel about you, and you know why I have been holding back. You’re in my head, you know that I’ve been afraid. Before you I wasn’t even able to go on dates without being forced by my friends. Even admitting that I like someone when they’re a human person is hard,” she slumped back onto the bed, head hitting the pillows. She stared at the ceiling. There was a crack in the plaster. “How am I meant to make sense of things when you’re not even human?”

The silence was lingering, but there was at last a spark of emotion, albeit not what she would have wanted to feel. A flicker of distress.

“I’m sorry. That was hurtful. You see, I can’t… I’m no good with words,” she ran a hand through her hair, finding the clips and releasing them one by one. The fidgeting was helpful, soothing a restless impulse to pace irrationally around the room. “I never have been. If you were human… why am I even thinking like that? You’re not, and that’s… okay, listen, if you were human I’d be trying to hug you about now. I’d be pleading with you to forgive me for being such a bitch, Carrey. But you’re not, and I can’t feel you right now, and I don’t even know if you’re listening to this but I’m just… so sorry.”

**_I should never have made that bet,_** Carrion finally responded, still reluctant. **_I am symbiote, and am used to sharing everything with a host. You are human, and need your secrets. Keep them._**

The offer was tempting, not only because she could hide herself behind walls again, but that it might end their argument. Not on the best terms, but it would be over, finalised. A compromise they could live with, had lived with for months.

It was not good enough, Skirth knew now. That wasn’t how the symbiote worked, and maybe it wasn’t how she wanted things to be any more either. She had only just started to open up, she refused to rebuild her walls.

“Forget the bet,” she began, interrupted.

**_Consider it forgotten. Like it never happened._ **

“Good,” she could make this work. She had to make this work, and she would have to be brave. “Then Carrey? Can I look at you?”

The symbiote grumbled, moving sharply enough to make their skin itch where they emerged, forming into a full torso with arms, which were crossed over their chest. It was the most human formed Skirth had ever seen them outside of a mirror, almost distracting her for a second.

**_“Aren’t you done yet?”_** they growled, finger-like tendrils tapping over the arch of what would have been a hip, had they had a lower half.

Skirth had thought it might be helpful, being able to address the symbiote face to face, but if anything this was harder. This was a blatant reminder of what the symbiote was and why what she wanted to say was so entirely abnormal. Plus, it added the conundrum of what she should do with her hands. It felt extraordinarily strange to leave them on the bed whilst Carrion’s larger form hovered over her, especially with her laid down like this. The way they were arranged was actually proving to be quite difficult for her to ignore.

“For fuck’s sake Carrey, just look,” she pleaded, “I’m an open book. I can’t say it, I can’t explain, but you can feel how I’m thinking if you’ll just let this barrier go.”

She couldn’t leave her hands idle on the bed; they strayed, but the symbiote’s mostly corporeal form turned to tendrils where she tried to touch and curled around them, pushing them backwards and away. “Carrey, for fuck’s sake…”

**_“You shake like a leaf,”_** the symbiote released her hands, rapidly shrinking down until only head and tendrils supporting it remained.

All at once the barriers came crashing down. Tendrils lashed out from them, ripping at the neatly made bedsheets. Slowly they coiled, sinking down to the bed and laying their uselessly, drawing back and wrapping around her arms, gripping almost painfully tight. Their face was gone, drawn back within.

It was a relief to have Carrion see, understand what she was making such a poor attempt at saying aloud, even if it was a cop out. If they had been human they would not have been able to do this, but they were not. Maybe that was okay. Maybe that was better. “I’m sorry.”

**_We’re sorry._ **

“No more secrets?”

**_Until you change your mind again?_ **

“Don’t be so bitter. I mean it,” Skirth took the response seriously though she could feel that it was just a poor attempt at humour.

**_You’ll regret it. That’s what you do._ **

“We’re both like that. I guess we’re bad at knowing what we want?” she rested her hand over where she knew the palpable bulk of Carrion rested beneath her skin, above her heart. “It’s a good thing we have each other.”

**_Don’t be so sappy. That’s Venom’s trick._ **

“It works, don’t try to deny it momma bear,” she teased, since apparently it wasn’t too soon to joke. They both needed it.

**_I told you, I am not their mother._ **

“And I told you it doesn’t matter whether you gave birth to them or whatever it is you do, you still act like it,” she grinned as Carrion manifested themselves as a face again, solely to bare their teeth at her but that was better than nothing. “Come to think of it you have called them young several times. How much older than them are you? Could you be their mother?”

**_“Our ages are impossible to estimate. We did not reside around a singular sun to measure time.”_ **

“That feels like evasion,” she knew that it was, she could feel it in their mind.

**_“They are… about a third of my age. We do not age in the same way as humans, but they could be my child… or…”_ **

“Or grandchild?”

**_“Don’t laugh.”_ **

That was easier said than done. A giggle escaped. “Carrey, darling, angel, light of my life… are you… old?”

**_“Don’t laugh!”_ **

Skirth bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, the symbiote seizing the chance to distract her in any way they could by taking the torn lip carefully between razor sharp teeth and lapping the blood from the cut. Skirth did her best to ignore the feelings that welled up, keeping still so that the needle points of their teeth would not cut.

**_“You liked that,”_** Carrion kept their face close, waiting for what they thought was the inevitable flinch. Skirth refused to give it to them, even when their tongue curled around their jaw.

“ _You_ are changing the subject,” she accused before she could forget. “How old are you? Should I be worried?”

**_“You’re not getting rid of me that easily. We live for a very long time compared to your weak bodies. I will outlive you, Doctor.”_ **

“You’re still avoiding the question,” she prodded the symbiote where their chest would be if they were human, surprised to find a chest there rather than loose tendrils. She didn’t think much of it when her hand settled naturally onto the symbiote’s shoulder, looping round the back of their neck, keeping them close.

**_“My kind would not consider me old, but you might, compared to a human. I would rather not estimate how many circles of your sun have passed in my lifetime.”_ **

“Okay, that’s fair, but we’re talking about this again at some point. It’s important scientific knowledge,” she explained, knowing that was something her symbiote could understand. “It’s a little bit disappointing.”

**_“How so?”_ **

“Well, you’re older than me but in comparison to our species ages I still don’t know who would be considered older,” Skirth shrugged. “Which means I can’t call you a cougar.”

**_“Can you never just let us have a quiet moment?”_** Carrion pulled back, ending up with eyes narrowed in their imitation of a frown down at her. Skirth’s hand couldn’t reach their shoulder any more, so she let it drop beside her head.

“Sorry,” she grinned, recognising that they were not actually annoyed. “Would you like me to get us some slippers? We could start a fancy tea pot collection, knit some tea cosies, you know, nice quiet old lady stuff…”

Her head spun as she was jolted upright, pinned to the hard wall by tendrils around her wrists and body, restraining her. Carrion was still in front of her, close enough to almost kiss, if she tipped her head forwards and wasn’t worried about the teeth.

**_“Could an old lady do this?”_ **

“Hmm,” Skirth pretended to consider, tipping her head and trying to look like she was thinking hard. “Maybe. I mean, I’m not exactly heavy…”

**_“You’re incorrigible.”_ **

Skirth laughed. This was too easy. “That’s such an old lady word. Pretty sure no one has said that since the millennium.”

**_“What about this?”_** bolder than she had expected, the tendrils restraining her extending and running beneath her purloined shirt, targeting with impeccable accuracy her most sensitive points, the hollow over her collar bone, the dip of her waist, connecting with the skin there and flexing in an imitation of a love bite, drawing the blood to the skin. Her back tried to arch before she could stop it.

“N… no, that’s… that’s probably not an old lady thing.” She was disappointed as they stopped, lowering her back to the bed. “Carrey?”

**_Feeling brave, Doctor?_ **

“Do you have to call me that?”

Carrion’s tendrils extended, wrapping around her ankles as well as the wrists they still held, waiting for Skirth to try to flex and move the joint there, understanding from their memories that this was not rejection. They were making sure it wouldn’t hurt them if they pulled away. Carrion couldn’t mind that, not when it was something of an automatic reflex for her host.

**_If you want me to call you anything else you’ll have to earn it._ **

“That’s not fair,” she complained, not protesting as the symbiote ripped the buttons from the shirt, leaving her upper half bare. Their dress had not accommodated a bra, and Eddie’s apartment had been lacking of feminine underwear. “You can touch me but I can’t touch you.”

**_Your wants are ours,_** Carrion purred, weight forming over Skirth’s hips as they rose up, full upper body emerging joined at the hips. **_Your pleasures are mine._**

“Doesn’t that mean you’re going to have to do all the work here?”

**_We do not mind. We are sure we will enjoy it._ **

She was nervous. She had expected to be nervous, about Carrion being an alien, about the teeth – they were, admittedly, still concerning. She was more nervous, though, about being a disappointment. She had wanted this for a long time, though she hadn’t wanted to admit it, and if Carrion truly did want what she wanted they had plenty of time to imagine how this would be. What if she finally gave in to the symbiote only for them to lose interest, and make their lives awkward forever more?

**_You are worried again._** The tendrils released at her wrists and ankles.

She sat up before she could second guess herself, grabbing Carrion’s shoulders so that she could keep them with her and press their back to the bed. They weren’t strong enough to manhandle the symbiote, who let her move them with a jolt of surprise.

**_Doctor…_ **

“How sensitive are you?” Skirth questioned confidently, now that she was taking charge, finding a convenient spot on the symbiote’s neck to brush with her lips, running her tongue over them in a quick effort to make sure she was not about to be horrified by an unpleasant taste before she ran her tongue over the tendril she had kissed.

The years of training Carrion had gone through to maintain perfect control over their form were forgotten as they slumped into a writhing mass of tendrils, still connected with Skirth but mostly a mess on the bed. They reformed themselves into something recognisably humanoid in a state of panic, checking and double checking for any sign of disgust in Skirth’s mind.

**_Very,_** they honestly confessed. **_I’d much rather be making us both feel like that._**

“Like this?” Skirth latched on to that neck tendril again, sucking hard and when that wasn’t enough to immediately drop the symbiote’s control, nipping with teeth. They collapsed beneath her again, this time coiling up and around her quickly, rushing beneath her skin. “Where are you going?”

**_Can’t keep a body if you keep doing that,_** they re-emerged behind her and flipped her onto her back, looking her over as they restored calm.

“What if I don’t want you to ‘keep a body’?” she questioned. Carrion huffed. “I’m serious. I know what you are. You don’t need to pretend to be something you’re not.”

**_You say that now._** They began to break apart, their face remaining but the makeup of their body unravelling, separating into tendrils that coiled around her. They found every one of her sensitive places that lay above the waist again, all at once and far too much, making her squirm as if to prove a point before pulling back together again. **_Another time._**

“Alright,” she allowed, looping her hand around the symbiote’s neck and pulling them down, kissing their forehead to avoid the teeth. “Like this then?”

**_Or like this,_** a mouth caught hers, human in size and shape, tongue dipping in to dance with hers. They matched her every motion perfectly, the technique familiar.

“Learning from the best?” she chuckled when they parted. The symbiote was copying her, right down to the shape of their teeth.

**_We know what we like,_** they did not waste their mouth to speak the words aloud, kissing along the line of her jaw. She tried to catch their head in her hands, stopped by a pair of tendrils wrapping around her wrists. **_Let me._**

“If you really know what I like, you know you’re going to have to stop me,” Skirth braved, grinning against Carrion’s lips as her hands were held above her head.

Carrion moved backward, teeth sharpening and lips drawing back, tongue following the trail they had left with their kisses.

**_We like this too,_** their long tongue strayed down, navigating to coil around one of her nipples, guiding their mouth. They were careful with their teeth as they laved the skin, her back arching to meet them.

There was an echo in her mind, every sensation she experienced felt by both of them, her pleasure and the symbiote’s combining and building quickly. Carrion had yet to do more than tease but already she was aching, needing, wanting. Every time the symbiote moved away, even for a second, her body instinctively tried to follow.

“Carrey,” she protested as the symbiote pulled back again. They did not need to breathe, which meant they were only stopping to frustrate her.

**_Want more?_ **

“You know I do.”

Carrion paused a moment longer, considering, before collapsing into a mass of tendrils, sliding slowly, teasingly over her skin. With every sensation amplified, every caress was electric and she wriggled on the bed, trying to increase the pressure somehow, needing more.

“Carrey…” she hoped the walls were soundproof as she moaned, gasping as the symbiote slipped beneath the waistband of her borrowed trousers.

She cried out as their long tongue flicked over her folds. **_You taste delicious._**

“Fuck…”

**_Good idea._ **

Whatever she had felt before paled in comparison to the feeling of Carrion’s long tongue curling and rippling over her clit, hot and rough and so perfect, like nothing she had ever felt. Her hips canted upwards, getting herself no closer to what she sought; Carrion’s head was not over her, the trousers were still fastened, only the tongue. Her hands strained against the tendrils, her body squirming.

Carrion stopped, laughing as she yelped.

“We were close!” Skirth protested.

**_We know darling,_** Carrion nipped the top of her thigh with razor teeth. **_But I am not finished._**

Skirth panted, cresting pleasure slowly fading, muscles relaxing. It wasn’t easy to let it go, not with Carrion still wrapped around her, still creating suction on her nipples and caressing her abdomen.

It was worth it the moment she felt the symbiote’s long tongue press inside her, just the tip.

**_Delicious,_** they purred, their tongue sliding inside further and curling upwards. Her hips followed, lifting off the bed only to be pressed back down by large, restraining hands. A tendril formed, stroking circles around her clit.

“Oh fuck Carrey, please,” she begged as their pleasure surged. Her whole body was held still except for her legs, which tried to wrap around a body that wasn’t there and wound up tangling in the bed sheets. “Don’t stop this time, please…”

Their inhuman tongue pressed deeper, curling and rippling, the tendril teasing her clit latching over it and sucking, hard, and she saw stars as her vision went white.


	14. Converging

Skirth usually did her best to avoid places with communal dining areas, worried people would notice her oddly selective stack of food and the amount she was eating at breakfast. This hotel wasn’t so bad; they had a buffet breakfast with hash browns, Carrion’s favourite human food, so she was able to stack her plate high and damn anyone who tried to stop her.

“I’m just saying if we had a lab we could work out what it is you’re getting from these so we can find a wider range of foods to eat,” she monologued to Carrion, an earpiece in to make it look like she was on a call. “We could do a series of experiments, find out what it is you get from eating what we eat, and then we might be able to substitute everything.”

**_I don’t want to substitute everything._ **

“There’s only so many criminals in one city, so unless we’re going on a world tour we’re going to have to practice moderation at some point. Especially if we’re going to ask the Avengers to accept us,” she reasoned. Eddie was already sat at a table across the room with a similar stack of hash browns. Without an earpiece he looked suspicious, nattering away to Venom.

**_… It would be an interesting project to collaborate on. Until we find more intellectual topics of study, of course._ **

“See? Science is the best,” Skirth chuckled, slipping into a chair opposite Eddie, who was too engrossed in conversation with his symbiote to pay her any attention. “We need to get him an earpiece.”

**_People are staring._ **

“Eddie,” she tried, without reaction. Carrion raised their hand, snapping fingers in front of his nose.

“Eugh, don’t do that, I haven’t had coffee yet,” Eddie grumbled, recoiling.

“You’re getting along?”

“Yeah,” they shrugged. “Venom’s hungry though.”

“They should not be,” Carrion raised their eyebrow. “You have been using a lot of energy very quickly…”

 ** _Ooh,_** Carrion laughed; Eddie was blushing. **_Y_ ou don’t think…?**

“Eddie, something you want to tell us?”

“Absolutely not,” he denied.

**_I think they did._ **

_I think so too,_ Skirth leaned them towards Eddie, stealing one of his hash browns. “Venom?”

“He was dreaming,” the symbiote told them through Eddie’s words. “I did not understand the topic.”

“Liar, you share his thoughts, you knew exactly what was going on,” they accused. Eddie scowled.

“Hang on, is that true?” he lightly punched himself in the head. “Then why did you keep me up half the night explaining it to you?”

“With demonstrations?” Carrion teased.

“No!” Eddie yelped, Venom quickly taking over. “It was funny. Your ears go red. Not all humans get red ears too when they blush.”

“That still doesn’t answer why you would be hungry,” Carrion took on a serious parenting tone. Skirth bit their lip, finding that inexplicably made her heart race. **_You like that?_**

_Maaaybe, mama bear._

“We were… trying. Food,” Venom confessed. “It wasn’t good for us.”

“It was fine for me,” Eddie scolded. “We got takeout. We were halfway through before Venom started to feel sick.”

“Capsaicin is a toxin,” Skirth cautioned. “Spicy foods hurt symbiotes. Venom, you should know that. You were there when we made that mistake.”

“I know,” Venom dipped their head, avoiding their eyes. “But… Eddie likes curries.”

“Oh young one,” Carrion soothed, a tendril reaching out under the table and wrapping reassuringly around one of Eddie’s hands. “It is good that you are trying for your host, but you must not risk yourself. I thought I taught you better?”

“I won’t do it again,” the symbiote promised. “But I _am_ hungry.”

“Eat your hash browns.”

“Does this mean you’ve made up now?” Eddie asked tentatively once they were halfway through their plates.

“Yeah,” Skirth shrugged. “It was my fault, sorry I was so grumpy yesterday.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to us,” he shrugged. “I’m just glad to have you both back. I’m too new to this, I’m not sure we should be doing this without your help.”

“Not if Venom is going to make stupid mistakes,” they scolded. “You realise you will need to… eat properly today, now?”

Eddie went pale, pausing with his fork halfway to his open mouth. “Yeah. Just… criminals though?”

“Yes,” they assured. “We really try not to hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve what’s coming to them.”

“Do I have to see?” he fretted. “I think it might be easier if I don’t see…”

“We will not be climbing any tall buildings,” Carrion chuckled. “You watched when we managed the Life Foundation. It would also be helpful for you to keep an eye on Venom so that I don’t have to worry about them.”

“Seriously, just how young are they?” Skirth demanded. Carrion took over, “Old enough to reproduce. Young enough that doing so was foolish.”

“Wait, you have kids?” Eddie questioned his symbiote, descending into muttered conversation not meant for other ears.

 ** _This is concerning,_** Carrion rumbled, **_they will not be able to keep to criminals if they must eat so often. We will have to keep an eye on them._**

 _Carrey?_ Skirth wasn’t listening, lingering on the prior conversation. _If Venom has kids…_

 ** _I do not,_** they sniffed haughtily. **_Troublesome creatures, offspring. Quick to spawn, forever to regret._**

_Is that why you’ve adopted Venom?_

**_I have not…_ **

_Oh, you so have,_ Skirth laughed, glancing to Eddie who seemed to be counting silently on his fingers, listening to Venom’s internal monologue. _You’re clearly a good mother figure, why don’t you have kids?_

 ** _I did not want them,_** Carrion dismissed. **_They would only cause problems. Take me away from my work._**

 _A career woman, like me?_ Skirth sighed. _I always wanted kids. I always thought I would be in a relationship, have a gap after uni, get married, have kids, wait until they were old enough and then start my career. It didn’t work that way of course; I got a job straight out of university, headhunted. They wanted me specifically and I agreed. Not that I was even in a relationship then anyway, so I suppose it wouldn’t have mattered._

**_You would still want children?_ **

_I’m not sure that would even be possible, whilst you’re hanging around,_ she did not need to say that she did not want the symbiote to leave; they shared one mind, and the words they spoke were largely superfluous, overtaken by memory and emotion that the words only clarified. _Besides, human reproduction generally involves two people, and I know you don’t want to share._

 ** _There are sacrifices that can be made if it makes you happy,_** Carrion rifled through memories, finding what they needed to know about the components required for human reproduction. **_You could ask Eddie. We don’t mind Eddie. He would be nice about it._**

 _Oh God no,_ Skirth mentally recoiled. The benefits of a shared mind meant that she did not have to explain to the symbiote what the term ‘friend zone’ meant. _Besides, he wouldn’t ever want to leave a kid if they were his too. We’d be stuck with him forever._

**_We already are._ **

_Aww big softie, changed your mind about leaving Venom alone?_

**_Evidently they are incapable still of looking after themselves._** Carrion loosed a spark of alarm. **_That does_ not _make me their mother._**

 _If you say so,_ Skirth smiled. _I guess you’re going to let them get their own food today then?_

 ** _You know that would be a bad idea, they’d probably just end up arguing in public about what constituted a criminal worthy of being killed,_** Carrion evaded mentioning that they had done the very same thing on many occasions before they had drawn their own admittedly arbitrary line. **_And then knowing Venom they would get angry and eat the nearest person. Also knowing Venom, they’d feel terrible if Eddie was upset about it._**

_That’s sweet._

**_Sappy. Pathetic. Weak…_** Carrion sighed. **_Yes, sweet, okay. But symbiote landing parties are not meant to be sweet, darling._**

Skirth glowed at the fond address. _I don’t know, they had you on the team as well._

 ** _I am not sweet,_** they protested, but a tendril about the size and shape of a hand stroked over Skirth’s knee, hidden from view under the table. Skirth covered this hand with her own, caressing and then pressing in when she found the most sensitive point, feeling the way her touch resonated through Carrion’s entire being. **_We are in public, darling?_**

 _So?_ Skirth pressed again on that point, feeling Carrion squirm within her and pull back, moving rapidly beneath her skin.

 ** _Careful,_** _t_ hey warned, a tendril latching on to her collar bone beneath her clothing and sucking, nipping, marking. **_Two can play at that game._**

 _Now that’s not fair if you don’t give me a way to touch you,_ Skirth protested, conscious of how warm she felt, especially her cheeks, blushing knowing that they were in public.

“Are you alright?” Eddie interrupted, Carrion immediately returning to beneath their skin, leaving Skirth to respond. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

“… Fine,” she eventually answered, mentally prodding at Carrion without response. _Why do you get to run and hide?_

**_You started it._ **

_Yes I did, and I’d do it again,_ Skirth grinned. _But I don’t know that to say to Eddie. Care to help?_

 ** _Nope, you’re on your own,_** Carrion laughed.

“I suppose you’re going to find out eventually,” she began, adding a silent _final warning_ to Carrion. The symbiote didn’t move. “You see Venom, when a host and a symbiote love each other very very much…”

“ ** _No!”_**

It was spiteful, and childish, but Carrion’s reaction was worth it. The symbiote took over their vocal cords immediately, stopping them in their tracks but also drawing every eye in the dining room.

Eddie was pale, white as a sheet, but Venom was laughing with their voice.

 ** _Did they need to hear that?_** Carrion reeled. **_Symbiotes don’t normally have hosts with that kind of… need._**

_Aww, did I embarrass you in front of your kid mama bear?_

**_Not my kid._ **

_They had Eddie up all night talking about it, they’re not innocent,_ Skirth reminded.

 ** _They’ve picked that up from us,_** Carrion considered. **_I swear, if they have a physical relationship more quickly than we did I’ll…_**

_Huff and puff and blow their house down?_

**_Be very sad that we wasted so much time when clearly not every human reacts to a relationship with a symbiote with the same self-loathing you did,_** Carrion answered very seriously, almost breaking Skirth with their wave of sorrow and frustration.

 _I will find a way to make it up to you,_ she swore.

She needed a reminder from Carrion to look outwards and focus on the world around them, where Eddie was still engaged in heated mutterings back and forth with Venom and other breakfast goers were starting to look concerned.

_We should probably go before they call the police, or worse, a psychiatrist._

**_Yes. We shouldn’t eat policemen,_** Carrion agreed, kicking their companion under the table to get their attention.

“We should move,” they prompted.

 _You know we shouldn’t eat psychiatrists either, just saying,_ Skirth reminded the symbiote. As they headed to their rooms to collect their few possessions she was assailed by memories old horror films, especially of Hannibal Lecter. _Right, two things. One, that’s not what psychiatrists are like in real life, that’s television. Second, you really shouldn’t use Hannibal as an example for anything you fucking hypocrite._

 ** _We are not a cannibal, we are symbiote,_** Carrion justified, but recognised that they would lose that argument if they tried to fight it.

* * *

 

Skirth did not make a habit of going shopping in the company of men. Stereotypes suggested that Eddie would potentially be more of a burden for her to take shopping than anything else. Eddie did not seem to fit those stereotypes.

They had expected to shop for low cut, tight fitting, short skirted dresses and high heels, all with the purpose of attracting the wrong sort of man that night. Eddie was meant to be along for the ride, because Carrion refused to leave Venom unattended. They had spent more of their time in the men’s changing rooms, giving their opinion on multiple different outfits that Eddie tried on.

“Are these tight enough?” Eddie questioned them in the fifth shop, trying to get a good look at how the close-fitting skinny jeans hugged his rear. Carrion had taken delight in answering for Skirth, singing the praises of Eddie’s clothing choices and his body in a way that was completely embarrassing for her. “I’m not sure they’re tight enough. Maybe we should go back to the shorts?”

“Eddie, I really don’t care any more,” Skirth hung her head in her hands. “Please just pick something.”

Eddie and Venom had been very clear with them about their plans. After their talk last night, during which one of the topics Eddie had explained had been the attitude of some humans to same sex relationships, Venom had suggested they might be the bait for catching criminals that night. Eddie had become set on the idea, convincing Skirth and to a lesser extent Carrion that they should be allowed to do so. Whether they caught a rapist for their meal that night, or someone who was some combination of homophobic and aggressive, either would be a good meal and no loss to the world.

“You could be more helpful. You’ve been doing this for ages, which would you choose?”

“Honestly?” Skirth sighed heavily. “Wearing that skin-tight rainbow ‘gaylien’ T-shirt is probably enough, and at least you’ll be a bit warmer in the jeans.”

 ** _“I like the shorts better,”_** Venom’s head emerged on tendrils from Eddie’s back, upside down, shamelessly assessing his host’s arse.

“Venom stop that, someone could see you!” Eddie tried to grab for the symbiote’s head but couldn’t reach it behind him, ending up spinning a few times around like a dog chasing his tail. “Venom! Hide and I’ll get the shorts!”

The symbiote shot him a toothy, sharp grin in the mirror before absorbing away.

 ** _We’re getting separate rooms tonight,_** Carrion complained, simultaneously brushing over Skirth’s nipples, tracing gently over her pulse point and nipping the skin atop her thigh.

 _Jealous?_ Skirth laughed aloud without explanation. _Not that I’m complaining._

* * *

 

Educating Eddie was not proving to be easy.

Venom hadn’t seen them hunting. They had no frame of reference to go by, so even though Eddie was the bait tonight they were spending most of their time giving him tips on what to do whilst still trying not to look like they were together, even as friends. The sort of people they were searching for were unlikely to strike if they knew Eddie was not alone, even if his friend was a petite and unassuming woman dressed to look much younger than her actual years.

“Everything you would never normally do, you need to be doing. All those things that you do automatically to keep yourself safe day to day, don’t do them,” Skirth explained as they set out. “Walk through the back alleys. Don’t check over your shoulder. Don’t hurry. Better yet, stumble a bit, look drunk. When we get near the club I’ll catch up with you again if we haven’t got anyone before then.”

Eddie put on a reasonably good performance for a first attempt. Carrion took Skirth over the rooftops, manoeuvring in the shadows and following their companion closely so they wouldn’t miss anything. At one point they thought they might have a suitable target, a man that started to follow Eddie for a while. The tall, heavy set man walked quickly, catching up with their companion and catching his arm. They had drifted closer, into hearing range, and picked up the bear of a man warning Eddie that this particular back alley was dangerous and giving him directions to safer ways to the club. The good Samaritan even offered to walk with them all the way there, flirting harmlessly.

Venom was not nice to him. Jealous that Eddie was letting the man touch him, the symbiote took over their speech functions and quite rudely told the man to fuck off, threatening to bite a particular anatomical region that the man must have valued, because he left in a huff.

“Is it okay that the guy gave me back some faith in humanity?” Eddie questioned when they dropped from the roof to join him.

“Sometimes that happens,” Skirth shrugged. “It’s nice. Maybe when Venom’s not hungry you could find yourself another nice bear to take you home?”

“I…”

**_“No.”_ **

Venom had emerged in front of Eddie’s face, only about an inch from the tip of his nose, snarling ferociously.

 ** _“Venom behave yourself,”_** Carrion intervened with a strike of tendrils, coiling around the eye-like regions of Venom’s head and pulling them away.

_Hypocrite._

**_Shut up,_** Carrion huffed, withdrawing. With Venom withdrawn back into Eddie and the end of the alleyway in sight, Skirth sighed and took over.

“That’s a conversation for another time,” she allowed, deliberately ignoring Eddie’s blush. “For now, hunting?”

As she explained the rules of their game, Carrion niggled at the back of her mind. Skirth tried not to be distracted until Eddie set off to join the line for entry to the club.

 _What?_ She demanded, frustrated. Carrion felt unsettled, restless.

**_Can’t you feel it?_ **

Skirth tried to work out what the symbiote was talking about. The air was cold, but that didn’t bother them too much. There was a slight breeze which was going up their skirt, but nothing worth writing home about. However the more unsettled Carrion was, the more she realised what the symbiote was referring to.

Before the symbiote, before she was never alone in the darkness, Skirth had struggled sometimes with the natural paranoia that came with being alone in the dark. She had always rationalised the experience. It was an evolutionary trait, designed to make a person seek the light where they were safer and to be on the look out for predators in the night.

Since Carrion, she never felt uncomfortable in the darkness. It had more to do with her companion than the enhanced senses that came with them. She never felt unsafe.

She might not be unsafe now, but the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end.

**_We’re being watched._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (NB T shirt Eddie bought both exists and is awesome, I don't know what company makes it otherwise I'd give you a link to their website)


	15. Leadership

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear readers, I'm so sorry. I mean, I'm not, but so many of you thought this was where I was going to introduce spidey boy, I'd really set it up for that huh? If it helps you won't need to wait much longer... for now

People here were far too nice.

Skirth was doing her very best to keep an eye on Eddie, make sure Venom wasn’t causing trouble and making sure he was doing what he needed to – circulating around the dance floor, not getting hooked in by someone he might actually like. She made an effort herself to blend in to the background, finding a shadowy corner near the bar to watch from.

Apparently hiding away in a corner was not an effective strategy. If anything she was getting noticed more. People were drawn to her, one by one, determined to offer her a dance or a drink or just to sit with her because apparently she looked lonely. After turning away the first three women, politely, men started to approach her as well. When an exceptionally supportive triad offered to look after her on the dance floor she gave up the dark corner, deciding that it was more trouble than it was worth.

Pushing through the dancers didn’t get her very far, but joining in allowed her to make her way through to Eddie in record time.

“This is a nice place,” she managed to shout into his ear loud enough to be audible over the music. “We should go somewhere else.”

“Yeah, I’m no good at this,” Eddie confessed in a similar yell.

Skirth did not make the effort to explain with the music drowning out so much of her voice, but they were actually quite proud of how Eddie was doing. For someone who seemed such a soft, sweet guy he had really thrown himself into this tonight, even knowing the outcome at the end, and he was doing almost everything right. She had been doing this for months and she still didn’t always catch a criminal every time they needed to eat. With Carrion, who was able to hold out longer for meals, that wasn’t too much of a problem. The longest they had ever to go without for was a week, although by that time Carrion had been desperate and they had gone out of the city to steal livestock. They could do that again if they had to.

“I forgot how cold it was out here,” Eddie complained, rubbing at skin still flushed from the heat of the club and the press of so many overheated dancers. “I should have brought a coat…”

Before Skirth could remind him why a coat would defeat the point of his other clothing, Venom had spread out of his skin and surrounded him, creating a second skin that looked like an especially tight fitting leather jacket. They left a strip free at the front so that anyone looking could still see the t shirt beneath, and filled out the sleeves to make Eddie’s muscles look much more defined.

“Well…” Skirth gawped at the overall look, suppressing Carrion’s rising jealousy. “That… looks good.”

**_“We know,”_** Venom spoke from what had looked like a zip pocket she now realised contained dozens of tiny teeth rather than an actual zip.

**_I thought he was friend zoned?_** Carrion grumbled.

_Hush you, a girl can look,_ Skirth scolded, _why don’t you ever do that?_

**_I can do that, if you want me to do that,_** they huffed, twining around her to hug intimately at her curves, covering all of her clothing and transforming her outfit into a body-hugging dress ending just above her knees. Their amber colour caught the streetlights overhead, glistening. Skirth glanced to Eddie, who was gawping at her, doing a twirl for his benefit. For her own she caressed over the surface of the dress, admiring and delighting in Carrion’s shiver of pleasure.

_I love this,_ she gushed, _You have to do this again… but… when we’re in private? It’s kind of noticeable that this isn’t just a dress. At least with Venom being matt black they can be mistaken for leather. You’re too unique. Beautiful._

Carrion sank back beneath her skin with a sense of contentment and just a little embarrassment, not used to being flattered by their host.

“Where to?” Eddie let Skirth lead them back into the backstreets, giving them directions before Carrion neatly scaled a nearby fire escape to travel by rooftop.

They were heading to one of Skirth’s least favourite neighbourhoods. The gang that committed their crimes in this region of the city should have been much smaller than when she had first started to hunt with Carrion, but for every one they devoured two seemed to take their place. There was money in their crimes, which arguably did not always meet their usual criteria. It was a good place to go for a night that they were struggling to hunt, though, and might be letting those criteria be a bit more flexible.

**_You’re sending him in to the lion’s den,_** Carrion worried. **_They aren’t used to this, what if there are lots of people out tonight?_**

_Then we will feast,_ Skirth assured, knowing it would win over the symbiote. _They are not alone. They have us._

**_We are not alone either,_** Carrion reminded her, turning their head abruptly. There was movement, in the distance, just for a moment before everything was still. Skirth’s heart skipped a beat as she gasped. **_We have to be careful._**

_How long has it been following us?_ Skirth fought not to panic as she caught movement from the corner of her eye once more, now that Carrion had shown her where to look.

**_Since before the club, I believe that is what was watching us._ **

_What is it?_

**_I don’t know. I haven’t been able to get a good look at it. But it waited for us whilst we were inside the club, and it’s been following us ever since._ **

_Fuck. Should we try to get away? I don’t like it following us like this, it could be anything._

**_We are symbiote, we do not run away. We stand, we fight. We will protect,_** Carrion’s defensive snarl was reassuring to her, but did not take away the adrenaline coursing through her suggesting that running would be a very good idea.

_We should warn Eddie._

**_No,_** Carrion abruptly took hold of their limbs, stopping her from jumping from the fifteenth floor roof. **_We should not lose sight of it now we know roughly where it is. If it is hunting us we should not let it get the jump on us._**

“Doctor!” Eddie’s yell startled them both, and Carrion unlocked their muscles to let them drop into the alleyway.

Venom had encased Eddie entirely, tongue lashing back and forth, tasting the air. All around them the walls and floor were coated in blood and tissue, far too much for just one to have been killed here. There was no body, and Venom did not look comfortable here.

“Was this you?” Skirth asked, already suspecting the answer before Venom denied it. “You found it like this?”

**_“What creatures on your planet would be able to do something like this?”_** Venom demanded angrily. **_“Is Eddie in danger?”_**

“No, he has you,” they reassured, laying symbiote coated fingertips on Venom’s shoulder. “But… there aren’t any animals on earth that do things like this… It almost looks…”

Bile rose in her throat even thinking it. It looked like someone had put meat through a wood chipper. There was no other way she could describe or explain it.

**_We should go._** Skirth froze as Carrion spoke, as tense as her. **_We need to move._**

“What is it?” she questioned before Carrion fully encased her, looking upwards to the rooftops. There was a flash of movement, almost missed before it was gone.

**_“Riot.”_ **

They were moving, fast, racing through the alleyway. They had lost the high ground – for now at least – and they could not see their pursuer, didn’t know if they were actually still following. They didn’t spare time to look back.

At the end of the alley Carrion launched at the wall of the building opposite, leaping nearly three stories in one bound before digging into the stonework with tendrils, letting them propel themselves upward. Venom followed less gracefully, tearing at the stone and casting rubble to the ground.

They reached the top just as they heard glass shattering behind them, not pausing to look back to find out what was broken as they raced onwards.

**_We have to find somewhere to hide,_** Carrion searched their memories frantically. **_Somewhere with no people. If they find us they will kill them._**

_We can’t hide from them unless we lose them,_ Skirth reasoned, trying not to let herself become irrational despite her terror. She had never felt this fear from her symbiote, consuming both of them. _Can we lose them? We might have to fight Carrey…_

**_We can’t fight them. They are a warrior. They would slaughter us._ **

_There’s two of us and only one of them._

**_They would happily jump hosts, we would be unable to injure them only their hosts,_** the symbiote pointed out. **_If they hurt you…_**

_We might not have a choice. We’re heading for the water._ Skirth reminded them, taking note of the streets they were passing. _They’re going to have us cornered._

**_If we have to fight we need to be isolated, they can’t be allowed to jump to another host._ **

_The park. Golden Gate park, we’re close, just turn…_

The buildings here were not so tall, the trees ahead of them visible a few blocks ahead, approaching quickly. They dropped into them, doing their best to find a point where they could disappear into the canopy.

**_“They got halfway around the world in just over a day?”_** Venom despaired, crouching on all fours as they tried to catch their breath.

**_“They have always been resourceful,”_** Carrion’s concern resonated, not able to rest as they studied the movements of the trees and the shadows, looking for the steel grey of the other symbiote. **_“It would be… unusual, for them to attack somewhere like this, where they couldn’t jump host… fuck, we shouldn’t have run.”_**

**_“What?”_ **

**_“If we didn’t run we could have made them think we were still on their side, that we’d just been biding our time until they were back and we could go ahead with the plan,”_** Carrion shifted, noticing movement in the darkness of the trees, moving a branch away with a tendril and spotting the squirrel it hid.

**_“… are you?”_** Venom asked tentatively. Within, Skirth puzzled. They had been together for months, Venom had seen them together. Why was that even a question?

**_“No, of course not,”_** the symbiote dismissed, a little too quickly. **_“This isn’t like…”_**

_Carrey?_ Skirth questioned as the symbiote very quickly closed down their mental connection, just as she caught the briefest image of a dusty grey planet with dog-like skeletal remains scattered as far as the eye could see.

**_“I don’t want to fight you, too,”_** Venom sounded so very small all of a sudden, curling in on themselves and watching them warily.

**_“You won’t have to,”_** Carrion promised. **_“Doctor Skirth is mine. I will not give her up for Riot and their plans.”_**

**_“And… if they get to her?”_ **

Carrion snarled fiercely. **_“Then we will destroy him.”_**

_Carrey, let me see,_ Skirth pleaded as they symbiotes turned their attention back to their surroundings.

**_No._ **

_Venom is worried. I need to know…_

**_Venom is new. They do not know what they’re talking about._** Carrion scowled. ** _Humans are different. This world is different._**

_Carrey? This wasn’t your first world; your first invasion was it?_ Skirth questioned. On reflection, she knew that it was not. Carrion had referenced other hosts, other worlds in the past. They had been honest about that from the beginning. _You have betrayed hosts before?_

The symbiote grumbled, reluctant, allowing memories to be visible one by one.

A blue world, its surface a fine dust of worn-down crystal. Humanoid lizards that walked on two legs when they needed to carry something, and needed no stairs as they scaled walls of buildings effortlessly to get to the floors they needed. The same world, quiet now, the cities bordered by unnaturally dark blue lakes; the liquid not water, thicker than that and roiling with tendrils. Lizard creatures in cages around the border, brought to the edge by other lizard creatures and held there with symbiote tendrils until they were taken as a new host.

The grey world she had seen before, but covered with plant and animal life. The dog like creatures moving in packs, sheltering in cave systems below the ground. A particular creature, appearing more than the rest, seen as a pup at first but growing as the world around them faded, became barren. The cave systems collapsing in on themselves. The pup, now grown, curled in a nest with pups of their own. The dog coated in the amber of her symbiote, leading their whimpering pups to the edge of a deep blue lake.

**_We will not allow that to happen here,_** Carrion swore to her.

_Do… do you think we’ve lost them?_ Skirth questioned, choosing to leave the topic alone for now. There would be time later to worry about what might happen. For now she could not bear to question her symbiote’s loyalties. Carrion tasted the air with their long tongue.

**_No. They watch. They hold back. We cannot leave, but they will not attack._** Carrion launched them into a tree so that they could see the other symbiote on a rooftop close by. They were shaped much as Venom, but larger and perhaps stronger. They were using their tongue to taste the air, probably monitoring where they were and whether they were moving. Silhouetted against the lights of the city beyond them, they cast a huge shadow over the street and trees beyond.

_How do we get out then?_

**_I… don’t think we can,_** Carrion admitted. **_We probably need to speak to them at least, but maybe we can do so on our own terms? If we get them into the park, they can’t attack us. If we killed their host they would be in danger. They won’t take that chance._**

_Do you think you could convince them?_

**_No._** Carrion was honest, but not encouraging. **_But it is our only choice, and we might be able to buy some time. Riot is not sentimental but I… worked with them for some time. They might be convinced to back down for now. They might be willing to give me time, in the hope that I will change my mind._**

_Then that is what we have to do,_ Skirth agreed. _I trust you._

She did not miss Carrion’s discomfort. It was hard to remain positive when the symbiote did not give the impression that they trusted themselves.

**_There is something I have not been entirely honest about,_** the symbiote confessed as they made their way through the tree tops, Venom following reluctantly below, until they reached a grassed area of the park and made their way out into the open, turning to watch Riot drop from the rooftop and into the trees. **_In my defence, I thought that they were dead, and that this wouldn’t ever be a problem…_**

Venom kept close to their back as the treetops rustled, steel grey tendrils reaching out to part the branches for Riot to stride through, unencumbered. Further tendrils reached down to the ground, lowering them from the height as they continued forwards rather than dropping clumsily, for a moment looking like a gigantic spider until feet touched the grass.

**_“To think that I wondered what terrible fate had befallen you all,”_** Riot’s tone was completely calm, unaffected. They had a confidence about them that suggested they could take on the world single handed – and win. **_“But of course, you have been befriending the locals. Dragging poor little Venom into your delusions too, corrupting them. No matter. Now the real work can begin.”_**

**_“We’re quite content as we are,”_** Carrion responded without their usual confidence, taking a step back as Riot’s eyes narrowed. **_“We’re not going it again. Not here. Not this world, not these people.”_**

**_“You are too old for such naivety to be indulged,”_** Riot tilted their head to the side, considering them. **_“Hosts are disposable, worlds are disposable. For our species to continue to flourish we must take what we need. How many times will you need to see before you understand?”_**

**_“I won’t see it again,”_** Carrion stood a little straighter. **_“This is it. It ends here. No more.”_**

**_“You think you can stop it?”_** Riot laughed. **_“My child, you chose to be a scientist, not a soldier. We both know who will win if you fight me.”_**

Carrion flinched as Riot’s tendrils lashed out, wrapping around their throat and tightening, almost cutting off air. Skirth barely had time to register her own surprise and her symbiote’s concern for her reaction before they were forced to fight for their life, clawing at the tendrils that surrounded their neck and lashing outwards with tendrils of their own, Riot catching every blow, entangling them and wrenching, drawing them away, apart.

**_“Let them go!”_** Venom sounded terrified, but as they lashed out they managed to turn the tide, giving Carrion chance to pull away and back to Skirth, staggering backwards through tearing pain.

_Are you alright?_ Skirth frantically questioned, realising that the pain was not from her body.

**_I…_** Carrion tried to encase her, their form quivering and parts withdrew again, leaving an area of her chest uncovered. They panted, the pain overwhelming, struggling to stay standing. **_We have to help Venom._**

Riot had thrown the young symbiote aside, a few tendrils still caught within their own. Venom was getting to their feet, teeth gritted through pain as they forced themselves forwards. Carrion stumbled as they moved forwards too, approaching Riot from the other side.

**_“Remember who you work for,”_** Riot warned them. The tendrils they still held of Venom pulled taunt, more of Riot’s lashing down like a whip, slicing through them with ease. The young symbiote screamed, staggering backwards until Eddie’s back hit the tree, the symbiote hiding within. **_“If you try to refuse me again, next time I will not be so kind.”_**


	16. Flawed Investigation

**_“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,”_** Carrion murmured over and over, their arms wrapped around their barely conscious companion. Eddie bit down hard on a torn off piece of his t shirt, trying to suppress screams of his symbiote’s pain. **_“It’s okay, it’ll be okay, you will heal, you will, I swear.”_**

**_We must find them food. Now._ **

Skirth reeled, not sure how her own symbiote was continuing to function with the pain that she could feel. Her own mind was clouded, and without her symbiote to keep her awake she did not think she could hold on to consciousness either.

_Yes. Anything. Have to…_

Carrion carefully let them go, leaning them back against a tree. Their tongue tasted the air and they wrapped around her arms and legs, racing through the park.

**_It’s the best I can do,_ t**hey apologised as they leapt over a fountain and caught a stray dog in their powerful grasp. **_We must get it back to them… I… can’t…_**

Skirth understood, the symbiote’s own strength wavering. _You must eat first. We will be no use to Venom otherwise._

**_I…_ **

_Eat!_ She ordered, not allowing the symbiote to argue with her. Their hands tore, forcing bloody meat down Skirth’s own throat until Carrion was strong enough to encase her head, consuming the body themselves. _Now we find something for Venom._

Carrion tasted the air and they were moving again, quicker and more fluidly now though the pain was only partly eased. They skirted through trees around a homeless man, leaving him to his sleep, catching cats that wandered in the woodland. On the neck of one a small bell jingled.

_It doesn’t matter,_ Skirth justified as Carrion momentarily hesitated. _This isn’t the time to be sentimental. Venom needs._

They returned to their companion quickly, Venom devouring all that they had caught quickly but without much evidence of benefit, slumping back against the tree when they were done. Carrion crouched beside him, tasting the air, assessing from that how injured they still were.

**_They are healing but they were already hungry,_** they finally concluded. **_We need to find more…_**

_Let’s get them somewhere safe,_ Skirth suggested, doing her best to think things through. _There’s that warehouse near the beach that was abandoned. I think we’re close._

Carrion agreed without words, lifting Eddie carefully. The man barely had the strength to hold on to their shoulders as they moved, only managing walking pace. The path they had to take out of the park would take them past the homeless man they had passed before, which they realised only when they rounded the corner and spotted him sleeping up ahead.

For just a moment they thought about going past right away, ignoring the man. They meant him no harm, and to him they would seem to be just another possibly drunk couple on their way home. Common sense overwhelmed that initial idea, though, because whilst they intended him no harm Venom might just be desperate enough to hurt him.

**_“Hungry,”_** Venom growled as they set them down.

“We know darling,” they soothed together. “Have patience.”

They straightened, leaving Eddie there, approaching the sleeping homeless man. They were close before they realised that his eyes were open, but he did not move on the bench.

“You’re awake,” Skirth spoke softly, hoping not to startle him. Carrion shifted uneasily, murmuring a warning. “How much have you seen?”

“Are you going to eat me, too?” his voice was scratchy from lack of use and illness. He sounded resigned, almost like he did not care what their response would be.

“No,” she promised. “No, we don’t… we just need to come past. That’s all. I just… I need you to give us some space to get past. My friend is… desperate. Please?”

“Aye, that I can do,” he nodded, pushing himself up from the bench. A pill bottle fell to the floor beside him; he struggled to lean down to collect it, wincing in pain. Skirth was moving forwards to help him up, seeing this, only to have him flinch away.

“Let me help,” she tried to insist, about to take another step forward.

Her foot was stuck to the floor, first one and then the other. Carrion surrounded them, snapping the silver threads that trapped them, trying their best to encase her protectively. They spun, sharp teeth bared, trying to see the source of the threat. Their tongue lashed out, tasting.

“Leave him alone,” a bright red shape in the tree line demanded, their voice deep but very obviously faked. Hiding their identity perhaps? It didn’t matter. The air tasted of human, and they were alone. “I won’t let you hurt him.”

The thread was an irritation, but nothing that they could not break. They snapped the binding again, ignoring the startled ‘oh poop’ behind them to help the homeless man to his feet.

“I’m sorry, but I really need you out of sight before I bring my friend past,” they explained to the man, the symbiote sinking back beneath their skin. They only managed a few steps away onto the grass before a red lycra-clad human landed in front of them.

“Let him go!” their voice was no longer faked and deep. They sounded anxious, but they held their ground as Skirth kept the homeless man moving towards them, regardless of this intruder.

“Kid, we really don’t have time for this,” they sighed as they were within a couple of steps of him, not really wanting to divert around because it would take longer and with every step the homeless man flinched just a little, favouring his left leg. “I just need to get him to that bench, okay? Good. Move please?”

The child in the super suit looked between them and the bench twice, as though they couldn’t figure out what they clearly found to be a very difficult puzzle. Skirth was losing patience quickly, having to pause with the man while this child made a decision.

“You… aren’t going to eat him?” they finally asked, moving backwards in their strange half crouch to let them walk forwards a few more steps.

“Not planning to, might eat you if you don’t _move,_ ” they warned, not truly meaning the threat – this was a child, after all, though they were a particularly annoying one.

“I…” they rocked on their heels for a second before springing up, ducking under the homeless man’s other arm. “Let me help too then?”

“Fine by me,” Skirth really didn’t care, worried more by Carrion’s lack of response. The symbiote, not needed at that moment, had gone quiet. Manifesting themselves to break the threads had taken effort and they were still in pain. Together they got the man to the bench, gently sitting him down. As an afterthought Skirth quickly stuffed a large handful of twenty-dollar bills into his hand from her bag. “Get that ankle seen to, yeah?”

She turned to hurry back to Venom, ignoring the child following at her heels.

“That was a really nice thing you just did ma’am,” they gushed as they caught up.

“Yeah, whatever, kid, I’m not interested, you should just go home,” she scowled at the boy, hoping that it would make him back down but her glares did not have half as much effect as Carrion’s. The boy didn’t look like it bothered him in the least. “And don’t call me ma’am. I’m not that old.”

“Oh, no, I call everyone ma’am unless I know their name, it’s polite,” the boy told her. “And I can’t go home, I’m here on official business ma… miss.”

“You’re a kid, I’ll admit you’ve got some cool toys, but official business?” she raised an eyebrow. “I doubt it. Bugger off.”

“I’m sorry I caught you at a bad time miss, but I’m here to investigate… well, you? I thought you were going to eat that guy like you did the dog, I’m sorry, that’s probably racist right? Not racist, I mean… alienist?”

“Xenophobic,” she corrected despite herself. “Seriously, kid, bugger off. I won’t eat you but my friend’s really hungry and he just might.”

“I can look after myself miss, maybe I can help your friend? He doesn’t look very well,” the boy was looking right at Eddie, though they still kept at a distance, Skirth concerned that if the other symbiote caught sight of the boy her threats might actually happen. The boy didn’t have such a sense of self preservation, a string of that thread shooting out to connect to a tree branch above Eddie and he followed it upwards, perching overhead. “Sir, are you alright?”

**_“No, child, we are not ‘alright’,”_** Venom growled, manifesting as a separate head and growling upwards. They looked accusingly to Skirth who was rushing across to them. **_“We will not be eating a child.”_**

“Good, that’s not why they’re here,” she assured, trying to call on Carrion to help her lift Eddie, but the symbiote could not answer beyond a rush of the pain they were keeping to themselves so that their host could continue to function.

“Since you’re not going to be eaten anytime soon kid, think you could get down here and help me with my friend?” Skirth tried, surprised when the boy dropped from the tree and scooped Eddie up without hesitation.

“Where do you need to go?” they asked expectantly. Skirth explained the directions to the warehouse she had in mind, quickly being scooped up by the boy as well. More thread – webbing, she realised, now she was seeing it more closely – burst from the boy’s hand and lifted them into the air. “Woah, this is hard with two people, can you hold on?”

He let her go as she clamped her arms around his skinny chest, locking her fingers together so that she could not easily lose her grip. Their journey was over quickly but her stomach was still turning over by the time they landed right in front of the abandoned warehouse. She let go of the boy as soon as her feet hit the solid ground, staggering to retch in a corner.

“Oh, the door’s unlocked,” he told them after a minute of trying amateurishly to pick the door’s lock, finding no resistance when he finally just tried the handle. “I should have done that first, huh?”

“Just get inside,” Skirth despaired, staggering in herself. The world was still spinning around her.

“You know, you don’t look so good either miss,” the boy told her helpfully, setting Eddie down. “Are you sure there’s not anything I can do?”

**_“Bring food,”_** Venom snarled. ** _“Anything with a beating heart.”_**

“That would actually be really helpful,” Skirth tried to sound reasonable about it. “We don’t want to hurt people, but if we don’t get something to eat we might just… lose control and we don’t want to do that. Please?”

“Uh, yeah… yeah,” the kid nodded, frowning but seeming to decide dead animals were preferable to dead human beings. He sent a web out of the door, latching on to the building opposite, and was pulled away.

“Who the fuck is he and why is he here?” Eddie demanded once he was gone.

“I have no clue and just be thankful that he is, if it means we can eat,” Skirth sighed, sinking down onto the floor beside him, spread eagled in the dust.

**_We must,_** Carrion spoke up, their voice very faint in her mind. **_This will have been Riot’s plan. Injure us badly enough that we either feed on our hosts – breaking us from that bond and winning us back – or kill innocent people, thereby alienating our hosts and achieving the same goal. If we do not eat soon…_**

_If you were to hurt me I would recover when you ate properly, right?_ Skirth questioned.

**_I could heal you, but there is only so much damage you would survive,_** Carrion almost seemed to quiver. **_If he is not back soon… you are sure you can survive a while without your spleen?_**

_Yes, but please try not to,_ Skirth pleaded. _He seems like a good kid. He’ll be back soon…_

They fell in to silence, listening to the sound of each other’s breathing in the dark. They were close enough here to hear the sounds of the ocean lapping at the beach, the first calls of gulls heralding the coming dawn.

The silence was broken by a bleat, the boy landing heavily in the warehouse with a sheep.

“Here, get this, there’s loads of them, think they might be on the way to the port? I’ll go get more,” and he was gone, the sheep frozen on wobbling legs.

“That one’s yours Venom,” Skirth deferred, not bothering to move.

Pain was slow to pass, even after they had each eaten as much as they felt they were able, the boy making five more trips in the end. They remained up in the rafters after that, keeping out of the way of the symbiotes that rested below, none of them comfortable enough to sleep.

“Kid, you really should go,” Skirth tried again once the sun was up. “Won’t your family be worried about you?”

“Miss, I told you, I’m here on a mission,” he assured her.

“To investigate us? Who sent you?”

“Well, I guess I kind of… sent myself?” the way the mask creased over his face she thought he was probably frowning. He puffed his chest out a bit, proudly. “But I’m here on behalf of the Avengers.”

“Oh, the Avengers?” she suppressed a laugh. “Done a lot of work for them?”

“Well, mainly for Mister Stark,” the boy admitted, though that in itself was of course surprising. “He knows I’m here by the way, so you still shouldn’t eat me.”

“Again, we’re not planning to eat you,” they glanced at one another.

“Why don’t you come down from there kid?” Eddie suggested, his tone kind. “You can’t be comfortable trying to balance on that beam for so long. Haven’t you got a dead leg by now?”

“…maybe,” he admitted. “I… okay, look, I’ll come down but you can’t try anything. I’m stronger than I look you know.”

Skirth and Eddie caught each other’s eye, trying not to laugh.

“Yeah, we’re very scared,” Skirth assured. “Come down. It’d be nice to be introduced to you properly rather than being accused of wanting to eat a man who’s down on his luck.”

“I’m sorry about that,” the boy dropped from the rafters, holding on to the webbing for quite a while as blood flow returned to his legs. “I just… aliens. I haven’t ever met aliens before. I didn’t know what you would be like but I mean, you seem nice?”

“Technically we’re not aliens,” Skirth pointed out. “Our symbiotes are though. Maybe we could introduce you?”

“That would be good, yeah,” he was clearly trying to sound brave, but the nerves came through in his tone.

“Let’s make it fair then shall we? You’ve seen our faces,” she suggested. “Let us see yours.”

“I’m not sure I should do that,” for all that they could not see his face, he looked concerned. “Superheroes have secret identities for a reason.”

“Except your friend Tony Stark,” Eddie pointed out. “And Steve Rogers, and Thor…”

“Thor doesn’t count, he isn’t even from Earth,” the boy denied.

“It’s not like we’d have to track you down if we wanted to hurt you, we’ve got you here,” Skirth reminded him. “We’re not the bad guys, kid.”

“No, I guess… the other guy seemed like a bad guy, the one that hurt you?”

“Yeah, they’re not so good,” Skirth winced. “We’re not working with them though. We’re trying to keep people safe from them. Including you, which will be easier if we can see your face?”

“I…” he hesitated. “Okay.”

The mask wasn’t hard to remove; he just pulled it away like a balaclava, his hair springing free in all directions as though it had not been crushed by the material for hours. He looked just as young as Skirth had assumed him to be.

“See, isn’t that better?” Skirth smiled reassuringly. “Right, time for you to meet our friends. Ven, would you go first?”

**_“Ven?”_** the symbiote scowled at her once they had encased their host. They reached out and ruffled the boy’s unruly hair. **_“We are Venom. What should we call you?”_**

“I’m Spiderman,” the boy grinned, running fingers through his hair to neaten it.

**_“No,”_** Carrion denied, taking over from their host. Spiderman gulped, instantly more anxious from her harsh tone.

“Oh, real name, right. I’m Peter. Parker.”

**_“Okay Peter, but still. No. Spiderman?”_** they pressed, disbelieving.

“Yeah, that’s my superhero name.”

**_“No, it can’t be. Not Spiderman. Spiderboy maybe, not man. You look about,”_** they checked Skirth’s memories for a cursory age reference, **_“twelve.”_**

“I’m fifteen,” he frowned.

**_“Which is about twelve. Closer to twelve than twenty-one anyway. Is that not the human age of maturity?”_** Carrion double checked from Skirth’s memories. **_“Where are your parents?”_**

“I don’t have parents. My aunt looks after me…”

Venom growled. **_“Your kind are very bad at looking after their children.”_**

**_“Does your aunt know you’re out investigating aliens?”_** Carrion worried. ** _“Does she even know you’re playing superhero?”_**

“I’m not playing, I am a superhero!”

**_“Sure you are kid,”_** Carrion laughed. **_“Would mister superhero like to go out for some breakfast whilst he’s investigating?”_**

“Hey, don’t patronise me, I’m much more mature than I look!”

**_“How about pancakes?”_** Venom suggested, ruffling the boy’s hair again. **_“Human children like pancakes.”_**

“I…” the Spiderman let out a long-suffering sigh. “I do like pancakes.”

**_“One more thing,”_** Carrey interrupted. **_“We’re going to need your phone. No surprises kiddo.”_**

“Oh,” he looked uncertain again. “But if Mister Stark calls…”

**_“That is exactly why we need the phone,”_** Carrion held out a large hand. **_“Hand it over.”_**

“Okay, but if Mister Stark calls you have to give it back, I don’t want him to be worried,” he gave up the phone, a Stark Industries model they had never seen before, made of thin and flexible material that could fit under the suit without leaving any bulge. “He knows I’m here, and if I don’t answer the phone he will be able to trace it.”

**_“That might not be a bad thing,”_** Venom suggested, looking to Carrion for confirmation. “ ** _We could use the help. Let’s get pancakes, and then we can tell you about Riot.”_**


	17. Parenting

“One job,” Tony fumed, resisting the temptation to stand on his tiptoes so that he could get properly into Happy’s face. “I gave you one job.”

The Life Foundation had taken some shutting down. The corporate side was easy. People were told that they were being made redundant, but that they would get their money later, courtesy of Tony Stark if it had to be once the Foundation’s bank accounts were depleted from the thousands of redundancies. They stopped coming to work. The facilities ground to a halt.

Mostly.

Some of them were more loyal. A few were not in it for the money, and they were centralised around one lab near San Francisco. Stark had gone in person, with his suit, to close it down once and for all.

The labs there had been horrific, but what was worse was the mass grave. There wasn’t a great hole in the earth as one would picture; it was accessed through clean, white, sterile tunnels beneath the ground. Those who died in the experiments were brought here and disposed of. An airlock separated the room at the end from the rest of the facility, ensuring that the growing stench did not bother anyone.

He had held himself together through the battle, managed to take down the remaining guards and scientists who resisted the changing tides, but beneath the mask his eyes had been wide and unblinking, his chest hurting from the effort of breathing. When the mask had come down he had fled to a local Stark Industries building, the apartment in the penthouse kept empty for him if he visited, and emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet.

It was done, and he could try to forget (would never be able to forget) and try to rest (the images would come to him if he slept – better to work, make suits, anything to avoid sleeping) and then he would have to decide what could be done about the aliens (snake like ships slithering through New York, chittering humanoid monsters armed with guns blasting indiscriminately. Loki’s cold, blue, mad eyed glare).

The messages were waiting for him when he got back, forwarded straight from Happy to Friday. They were the first thing he checked for on his arrival, a bit of light relief from his friendly neighbourhood Spiderman protegee. He had been away for only a few days, so he had only expected three messages; not twelve, as Friday reported. The messages went to Happy’s phone; Happy was in charge of checking them first, especially when he was busy. He was meant to make sure spider-boy was okay and behaving himself, keeping to his own turf and his own abilities, not putting himself in too much danger. He would have called if there was anything to be worried about. The kid was probably just excited because another old lady had bought him a churro.

Stark poured himself a Scotch, swirling it around in the glass. He couldn’t remember whether this was one of the ones that was meant to be drunk with ice or not. It certainly smelled peaty enough to need it.

His hand lingered on the ice dispenser, eyes drawn to the flashing amber light and back to the same coloured light on Friday's display. He stubbornly got the ice before he told Friday to play the messages.

Happy was only two floors down from his sitting room. He launched the fine crystal whiskey glass at the fool’s head on sight, the beverage downed in one huge gulp.

“One job!” he repeated, poking the teddy bear of a man in the chest.

“Tony, I don’t know what you’re…?”

“You didn’t even listen to the messages, did you?” he was glad he had not taken the bands off his wrists, so he could call the suit right away. “If he gets hurt, you’re fired Happy.”

The pieces of the suit began to clasp together, but he only needed the hands, triggering the repulsors and trusting the rest of the suit to form around him before his head could hit the window unprotected. The glass rained down, swallowed by a blaster beam before it could hit the streets, and had Friday set a course for the five-hour trip back to San Francisco. He didn’t have time to wait for a plane. There had been no message yesterday. It might already be too late.

* * *

 

“Blueberry or chocolate?”

 ** _Get him chocolate. What is it with you and blueberries?_** Carrion grumbled, **_Could we get chocolate milk too?_**

 _Anything you want love,_ Skirth soothed, still waiting for an answer from the boy, Peter.

“Could I maybe get strawberries and cream?” Peter requested instead. They had managed to find his bag, long discarded in a back alley, and dress him in more normal clothing for their outing.

**_Disgusting. Get the boy some real food._ **

“Of course, if that’s what you want,” Skirth agreed.

**_You would be a bad mother._ **

_Shut up._

“How much are the drinks Sir?” Peter asked as Eddie joined them at the table with chocolate milks all round. He opened an iron man branded wallet and appeared to have very little cash on him, the wallet mainly stuffed with his passport and an assortment of rail and plane tickets.

“It’s on us,” Eddie declined.

**_He is very polite. We like him._ **

“So, what do you want to know?” Skirth asked once they had ordered.

“Everything!” Peter demanded enthusiastically, eyes wide. He seemed to realise immediately how over-eager he was being and sat back in his chair, taking a breath for patience. “I mean, whatever you can tell me, miss.”

“Dora,” Skirth corrected. “Carrey, if you’re talking to my symbiote or both of us in public. You don’t have to keep up with the ‘miss’ stuff.”

**_It is cute though. Can we keep him?_ **

_No,_ Skirth mentally prodded at the symbiote. _He’s a teenager not a pet._

**_Spoilsport._ **

“How much do you know already?” she asked, rolling her eyes as Eddie finished their chocolate milk almost straight away and had to flag down their waitress for another. At least this place had free refills.

“Only what was on the news.”

“So you’ve heard about the Life Foundation bringing them to Earth?” she checked. He nodded. “And you know that one of them – that’s Riot, the other one – has been killing people overseas since they landed, and they’ve been covering it up?”

“Yeah.”

“So…” they had debated internally over how much they should tell him. Venom was letting them take the lead, since they technically outranked them.

They kept things simple. The experiments at the Life Foundation, how she had come to be Carrion’s host. How they had adapted Carrion’s need to eat to help, by directing those instincts towards criminals. They watched him particularly carefully at that part. He had looked like he was thinking hard, they could practically hear the cogs whirring in his young mind, but he had eventually asked them to continue and they had. The child’s opinion had the potential to matter more than they would like, since he had a direct line to Tony Stark, head of the remaining Avengers.

They told him about finding a host for Venom – not how they had gone about it, the clubs and the flirting, but actually finding Eddie, and Eddie agreeing after his short time with Carrion. And then they told him about Riot, and the soldier symbiote’s plans to subjugate the people of earth.

“We don’t want that to happen,” they told him together. “Not anymore.”

“That’s good,” Peter nodded. “Because if you did I would have to stop you.”

“Yes you would,” they smiled. The threat was so weak as to be adorable. They took a page from Venom’s book and ruffled his hair. “Because you’re a good boy.”

“Please don’t…”

They were startled by sudden loud and incessant yodelling, emerging from Eddie’s pocket.

“That’s my phone,” Peter’s eyes blew wide, Eddie scrambling to get to the device as all eyes in the restaurant turned to them.

“It’s him,” they set the phone down on the table, switching it to silent as it rang on. “It’s Stark.”

“I have to answer,” Peter did not reach for the phone, only pleaded. “If I don’t he might be worried.”

“Send him a message. Tell him you will call him back. We shouldn’t talk here,” Skirth suggested, pushing the phone his way. “Include something to prove it’s really you.”

Peter took the phone, typing quickly, set it back on the table and spun it so that she could see. “Is this okay?”

She deliberately didn’t look. “If you think it’s alright, send it. You’re not a hostage Peter.”

“We don’t get pancakes for hostages,” Eddie pointed out semi-seriously, winking.

Peter looked confused and doubtful. “So… I can just go? Whenever I want?”

“We’d rather you stay,” Skirth suggested. “We don’t know if Riot saw you, and if they did you might be in danger. But yes, if you really want to leave, you’re free to go.”

It was a double bluff, in truth. She wasn’t sure what she would do if he actually tried to go. He still had half his stack of pancakes left though, and he didn’t seem in any hurry to escape so she thought they might be alright.

**_We should not send him out alone. He is a child. He could be harmed._ **

“That’s… good,” Peter shrugged, sending the text and handing the phone back to them. He returned to eating his pancakes without further comment.

Within moments the phone rang again, and again. Both times Skirth declined the call, on the second suggesting that they needed to go.

“We should find somewhere more private where you can talk to him,” she suggested to Peter. “Somewhere we can put it on speakerphone so he can speak to us if he wants to.”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed, pushing his plate to one side. Skirth left more than enough money on the table, declining another call from Stark.

“Back to the warehouse?” Peter asked once they were outside.

“How are you with heights?” Skirth asked instead, looking towards the roof of one of the highest buildings nearby.

“Terrible,” Eddie interrupted. “Do we have to…”

 ** _“Pussy,”_** Venom encased him, launching at the wall of the building. Skirth was glad they were out extremely early and there was no one around to see.

“Ven, language!” she yelled, following after, trusting the supposed Spiderman to follow.

“It’s ringing again,” she told the boy as he reached the top. “You’d best answer.”

“What should I say?” he took the phone, but he did not answer, thumb hovering over the screen.

“We’re not going to dictate that,” she reminded him. “You’re not a hostage. There’s no ransom note. Tell him whatever you feel is best.”

“Mister Stark?” Peter answered, flicking the call to speakerphone.

“Spidey where are you kid? Are you alright? Please tell me you haven’t found the aliens? Why weren’t you answering your phone?” the world’s most well-known superhero sounded shaky, panicked. “Are you insane, kid? You could have been killed!”

“I’m okay Mister Stark,” Peter hedged, looking to them. Skirth rolled her eyes deliberately, waving for him to go on. “I couldn’t answer the phone because I was in public – getting breakfast actually.”

“Are you sure kid, because usually you’d have talked my ear off by now and you’re strangely quiet?”

“No, I mean yes, I mean… I really am fine Mister Stark,” he bit his lip.

“Bullsh…. oot,” they could all hear Stark’s breathing turning into pants down the phone, everyone recognising the sound of panic. “Kid, say yes or no, are you alone right now?”

“N… no?” Peter looked to the others, nervous, expecting to be told off. Skirth shrugged again, Eddie giving him a thumbs up.

“Oh fu… dge, where are you? Are they listening?” Stark’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Peter, listen carefully, the suit can help, I’m too far away to activate it but you can, you just need to say ‘activate Gone-Baby-Gone protocol’, say yes if you got that?”

“I… yeah, I got that,” the boy frowned. “Wait, you thought I might get kidnapped when you made the suit?”

“We’re not kidnapping him,” Eddie lost his patience, interrupting the call.

“Sh…ugar, kid, was that one of the aliens? Can they hear what I’m saying? Please tell me you’ve got the suit…”

“We’ve told him he’s free to go,” Skirth interrupted, rolling her eyes and taking the phone. “Look, I’m guessing you’re in your suit, can you connect to the phone’s camera? We can show you that he’s okay?”

“He’d better be,” Stark’s threat took on an icy cold note, panic resolving into determination. “If you’ve so much as hurt a hair on his head I will Avenge it.”

 ** _“You are a good parent,”_** Carrion’s head rose from Skirth’s shoulder to join the conversation. **_“You would protect him even though you are afraid?”_**

“You better believe it, E.T.”

“Peter, switch the camera on,” Skirth passed him the phone back, unfamiliar with the odd icons Stark had used for the phone’s controls. “It’s not fair to have him worrying about you. I thought you said Stark sent you to investigate us?”

“I did _not_ send him, kid did that all on his own – and we will be having a talk about that later, young man, you’re so grounded,” Stark’s face appeared on the phone, filling the entire screen with what appeared to be a shot from inside his helmet. “Kid, I can only see your face, move the phone back?”

“I’ll take that,” Skirth snatched the phone, taking a couple of steps back so that the whole of Peter could be seen. “See, he’s fine. Not injured, not tied up, we don’t have a gun to his head…”

“Where’s the suit?”

“In my bag,” Peter held up the backpack for the camera. “I’m wearing the webs though Sir.”

“Why… what were you… d…rat kid, you should be wearing the suit!” there was the panic again. “Please tell me you didn’t go after the aliens dressed like that?”

“No, I just got changed for breakfast,” Peter was starting to relax now, finally taking on board that they were not going to try to force him to do anything on this call. “It’s okay, Sir, they’re cool.”

“…cool?”

“Yeah, they’re actually pretty nice,” he blushed, embarrassed. “They bought me pancakes?”

“Kid, didn’t your aunt teach you not to take candy from a stranger?”

“I’m fifteen,” the boy pouted, “I’m not six.”

“Okay super dad,” Skirth turned the camera to herself. “As much as we support the idea of grounding the kid, you probably need to have this chat in person rather than over the phone. Is there somewhere we can meet you?”

Stark’s expression turned steely, jaw clenching. One of his eyes twitched involuntarily.

“Come to the Stark Industries building in the financial district,” he commanded finally. “And don’t get any ideas. Friday will tell me if you even think about hurting anyone there.”

“We won’t,” Skirth shrugged. “So long as no one there tries to hurt us. If they do I can’t promise anything.”

“I can send instructions in advance. As soon as you get there you will hand over the kid, unharmed,” Stark instructed firmly. “What are your demands?”

“For goodness sake, this really isn’t a hostage situation,” Skirth sighed, shaking her head. “Look, why don’t we just drop Peter off at the tower and go? You can have your chat and make sure he’s okay and we could meet up with you after? Once you’ve calmed down?”

“Yeah. Yeah, do that,” Stark was still frowning at her suspiciously. “Tell the kid I’m going to call every fifteen minutes and he’d better answer or I’ll ground him twice as long for making me worry.”

“Sure,” she laughed, passing the phone back across once she had hung up. “You’ve got some explaining to do kid.”

 ** _“You are far too young to be disobeying your father,”_** Carrion scolded, forming a full upper body with angrily crossed arms. **_“And what’s worse, you lied to us, made us think he knew what you were doing. You made us think he was a bad dad.”_**

 ** _“It’s just a little bit awesome though,”_** Venom muttered quietly to the boy, a head extended on long tendrils from Eddie, who was trying to look stern with them. **_“Sneaking out to fight aliens behind daddy’s back? That’s pretty cool.”_**

 ** _“Ven, don’t encourage him!”_** Carrion snapped. **_“You wouldn’t be impressed if it was one of your kids!”_**

 ** _“My kids look after themselves,”_** Venom corrected proudly. **_“Like this boy.”_**

**_“Because they had to, because you’re practically a kid yourself and you have no idea what you’re doing…”_ **

“Guys, stop,” Eddie caught the tendrils to reel Venom back to him. “Venom, don’t encourage him, Carrey, it’s a really bad idea to tell off this kid. His dad’s frigging Iron Man!”

 ** _“We can bite through iron,”_** Carrion’s eyes narrowed. **_“Coward.”_**

Skirth gawped at her symbiote. “Stop it. We’re not eating Iron Man!”

* * *

 

They took a taxi to the Stark Industries building because Eddie was frightened of being met with snipers on arrival, no matter how much they all assured him that Venom would protect him. They had called on the way to buy a burner phone and programmed the number into Peter’s phone just in case.

“We could leave you here,” they offered once the car pulled up outside, within sight of the doors. “Once you’re inside we can drive away and then you can call us when you’re ready to meet up.”

“You’re really just letting me go?” Unfortunately for them Stark’s suspiciousness had rubbed off on the boy. Since the call had finished he had been different with them, watching them out of the corner of his eye. Carrion praised him for having learned some sense of self preservation but this personal growth had occurred at a bad timing for them.

“Yeah kid,” Skirth prompted Carrion to reach over and open the door. “Out you jump, get yourself in that tower and don’t come out again till superdad gets here.”

The rucksack with the suit was in Eddie’s lap. Peter almost left without it, getting out and hovering in the doorway but not asking for it or reaching to take it. Venom shoved it at him, holding it up until the boy took it., shutting the door behind him.

The taxi driver was watching them in the rear-view mirror. He was sweating, and pale, and had probably seen too much. Eddie tried smiling at him reassuringly.

“Kids these days, they’ll even try to get kidnapped to get out of doing their homework,” he joked, badly. It didn’t help, the driver gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“We’ll pay you double,” Skirth sighed, proffering the extra cash. Mollified, the driver took it.

“Where to?”


	18. Entangled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note for anyone avoiding the NSFW bits; E in this chapter shortly after the second break-line.

On the roof of a nearby tower, Carrion watched over the Stark Industries building for any sign of Iron Man’s arrival. Back from the edge Venom waited, talking to Eddie to keep his mind of the height of the building they had scaled.

Down below the streets had come to life as the morning wore on. Business opened for the day, though the employees of the Stark building were on the whole turned away by security. They were not opening as usual. Surrounding businesses had not been evacuated in the same way, but Stark’s security staff were a visible presence in the community and on surrounding rooftops.

High above, everything was quiet. The hours were passing slowly as the weather turned and a fine drizzle began to fall, the figures passing below now with hoods up or umbrellas hiding them from the symbiote’s view.

A _re we going to talk about it?_ Skirth finally interrupted the peaceful waiting.

**_Talk about what?_ **

_The thing you didn’t tell me before, about you and Riot._ She tried to be sensitive, but felt Carrion’s immediate resistance. They would shut down unless she pressed them. _Them being your… dad? They called you ‘my child’? Is it true or was that just a figure of speech?_

**_It is irrelevant._** The symbiote withdrew from their connection, their memories and emotions closed to her. They tried to refocus on the street below, the patterns created by the colours of the umbrellas.

_No it isn’t,_ Skirth argued _. I need to know about this Carrey. This is big. It makes a difference, what you think of the relationship between you, the bonds that keep you together. This affects everything._

**_There are no bonds. They spawned me, and left. This is the way of the symbiote,_** they showed her specific flashes of recollections; their memories clear from the moment of their creation. Within a day they had been left with a group of other symbiotes, Riot leaving. Going back to their job, the things that they enjoyed. **_It was chance that reunited us, not affection._**

_But you were reunited. And I don’t think that happened recently. Those worlds that I saw, those memories… it felt like lifetimes._

**_Humans are so weak. You live and die in a moment,_** they sounded sorrowful. **_Perhaps it has been… lifetimes. The length of human life is nothing to a symbiote._**

_If humans are so insignificant to you,_ Skirth reasoned carefully, _If you protect my species for the bond you and I share, knowing that you and your kind will outlive me many times over… how could I expect you to chose me, and humanity, over your own parent, your own kind?_

**_Because of your humanity, Dora. Because, even though you might only live a handful of circles of your sun, you live every moment, feel every moment._** Carrion sank back within her skin, allowing her to feel the soft rainfall on her back, soaking through clothing, the wind catching at her hair and blowing it into her eyes. **_And now we feel it together._**

Skirth remained quiet a while, allowing the sensations to overtake her. Carrion did not allow her to get cold enough to shiver, encasing her at the very first sign of a tremor.

_Can that be enough?_ She wondered, still unable to access everything Carrion was feeling. _My love,_ _I need to know how much we can trust you to stand up to Riot. I’d understand if you don’t feel you can._

**_I can. They mean nothing to me. I…_ **

_Carrey,_ she stopped them. _When they were there, you… wavered. Nearly froze, I think. And that’s… I get it, Carrey. I do, but I need to know that we can rely on you, or we have to sit this one out._

Carrion fell silent for a long time. **_I have had many hosts in my life. None of them have been anything like you, my darling. Humanity in general, your species… you are so much more than the others. What we have? I will never betray that._**

_Then I trust you, my love._

**_Do you…_** the symbiote rippled over their skin, their mind no longer so closed to hers but still clouded, not fully without boundaries. **_Do you realise what you say? What you… keep calling me?_**

Skirth blinked, having the think on her words. In truth she had not been saying them deliberately. She was so far beyond having to think about it. _My love, do you want me to stop?_

**_No, darling,_** a pair of strong arms formed and tightened around them, an embrace. **_Say it again?_**

_My love,_ Skirth thought, and then as an afterthought, aloud. “My love.”

* * *

 

He did not automatically release the suit on arrival. Even if the aliens were gone he would need its protection. He could not allow the kid to see him like this.

He was a mess. He could not count the number of panic attacks that had consumed him on the journey. Beneath the metal of his suit his clothing was soaked with cold sweat and his eyes were wide and wild. He wasn’t sure that he would be able to remain standing without the support of the suit and its gyroscopic balance. His head was pounding, heart still racing, stomach churning.

For the last three hours every telephone call he made to the kid had the interior of his penthouse apartment in the background, but that didn’t mean he was alone, even though he said that he was. At least he had the suit, the tracker was showing up in the apartment as well, but he was separated from it. The suit had been left near the elevator, the kid settling on the couch where, if the phone calls were to be believed, he was watching television.

He did not burst through the window. Landing on the roof and taking the elevator down was meant as something of a power move; show the aliens he was not afraid of them, even if they intended to ambush him. It had worked for Loki – wild blue eyes, mad grin, _kneel,_ hold it together Tony – it would work on these would-be invaders as well.

The kid’s bag was exactly where the tracker indicated the suit would be. He scanned it immediately, searching for weapons, bombs, anything. The only technology he picked up was in the suit itself. He nudged it over carefully with the boot of the suit, scanning it again. Still just the suit. He grabbed the bag. Best take it with him so that the kid would be able to put it on as soon as possible.

The scan showed only one other person alive in the apartment. Or at least, only one other humanoid life sign. If these aliens were cold blooded the basic scan might not pick them up. He would need to launch a miniature drone for the more complex scan, and that would be a show of weakness.

He strode in to the living room with patented Tony Stark confidence, not turning his head at all even though within the suit he scrolled quickly between all possible views of the room. The kid was there, sat on the couch where he had been for the phone calls, though he jumped up when Stark entered, immediately flustered. He could see no sign of the aliens.

“Hey kid, has E.T. gone home?”

“Mister Stark, I’m so sorry, I just wanted to be helpful, I didn’t think it through,” Peter rushed, blushing. “I knew I could do it, Sir, but I’m really sorry, I didn’t realise you’d be worried…”

“Yeah, kid, get over yourself, this isn’t about you, where’s Thing one and Thing two?” he launched the drone with a flick of eyes to the top left of his screen, using it to search the other rooms, remaining alert.

“They aren’t here Sir,” the kid promised. “They dropped me off like they said. I’ve got their number if you want to talk to them just now…”

“Give me your phone,” he took it with a metal-gloved hand, plugging it in to Friday’s system to check for viruses and tracking. The drone had done a lap of the whole apartment, scanning for any sign of life or tampering with any electronics. It had yet to identify a single bug. “You know they could have eaten you? Did you see them on the news?”

“I know Sir, it looked bad but they’re not bad people…”

“They’re not _people_ , kid, they’re aliens,” Stark grumbled. “Do you realise how lucky you were to get out of this alive? What if they’d killed you? How do you think that would have made me feel? I never should have given you that suit. You’re overconfident. You don’t get it.”

“I… didn’t know you cared, Sir…”

“Oh heck no, don’t try to guilt trip me. Those puppy dog eyes don’t work on me!” Stark was able to avert the camera view from the kid’s face so the puppy-dog eyes really couldn’t work. “As soon as you get back to New York I’m taking the suit back.”

He tossed the bag at the kid’s feet.

“Put it on,” he ordered. “Until I get you home, do not take it off. You might need it.”

“Okay,” Peter did collect the bag. “Are we both going to meet with them?”

Stark briefly thought about telling the kid no, he could stay in the tower where he could be safe, but the thought of separating and risking an ambush did not appeal. “You bet kid, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“Okay Sir,” Peter hesitated, broadly grinning but as he lingered this slowly faded. “Sir, they told me a lot of things that I should tell you before we go…”

“Go get changed, you can talk as you do,” he suggested, eager that the boy should be better protected as quickly as possible. “I’ll be listening.”

The kid started talking right away, telling the story of how he had found the symbiotes and all that had happened since. Stark listened, but as he did he released the suit and stumbled his way on numb legs through to his private bathroom, locking the door and leaning his forehead on the cold tiles.

The kid was actually okay. He wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t upset, he was his normal self. He didn’t realise what he had done. He was innocent, foolish, and far too young to be a superhero. Why couldn’t he have stayed in New York where he could have kept an eye on the boy?

On the other hand he was getting too old for this. His knees clicked as he tried to bend them to sit on the edge of the bathtub, back popping as he stretched to reach the taps. The water running, he retried painkillers from the bathroom cabinet and dry swallowed the pills, hoping to get rid of the headache that stabbed behind his eyes.

He still had the aliens to deal with. He wasn’t sure how long they would wait before they made some aggressive move. There wasn’t really any time to lose, but… for the first time since the Avengers had broken down, he wished Steve were here. Captain America would have taken charge of the situation. Between the others they would have been able to fill in the gaps, take over where his own weaknesses showed through.

Who could he even call? Banner, the Hulk was gone, no one knew where. Thor would have been helpful, he was an alien too, but he was back on his own world dealing with psycho baby brother. Vision was the only one still around who might have the firepower to help him deal with this, but he had gone off the grid recently too.

He really hoped the kid was right, and these two aliens he called Carrey and Ven were not set on world domination. If they were really on the side of humanity, maybe they would stand a chance against this third alien, Riot.

The water was a bit too hot when he got into the bath, but that was fine. All the better to get rid off the lingering effects of too many hours in the suit. He would not stay there for too long, he would need to be ready to move quickly, but just for a moment he could lay back and thank whatever – possibly Norse – God was watching over him that Peter Parker was alive and safe.

* * *

 

“It’s him,” Eddie spoke up the moment the phone rang. Carrion brought Skirth back from the edge of the roof, going to sit with them. “How do we answer?”

“Pushing the green button and saying hello would be a good start,” Skirth reminded. “Remember we’re trying _not_ to look like supervillains here.”

**_“I’m hungry,”_** Venom complained. Carrion hissed at them.

**_“That’s not helpful.”_ **

“Besides, you can’t be hungry, you had sheep this morning,” Skirth reminded, pushing the green button before the call could ring out. “Hello, Dora speaking, am I speaking to Tony Stark?”

“Yeah, yeah, E.T. skip the formalities, kid’s told me about you all. I promised you a meeting. You pick when, and I’ll do where,” Stark’s tone was flippant, infinitely more relaxed than when they spoke before. Skirth glanced to Eddie, shrugging. They had waited all afternoon for this call, since Stark had arrived back just after lunch. It was already getting dark.

“Would you rather we meet tonight, or wait until breakfast?” Skirth offered him the choice. Honestly, she would rather wait until the next day. They had not really rested, after the fight with Riot, and both human and symbiote were tiring. If Stark insisted on meeting that night though they would make it work.

On the other end of the line there was a long pause, some muttering in the background with a hand held over the receiver so they could not quite pick out what was being said, and then Stark was back. “Apparently the kid owes you breakfast?”

“That sounds good,” Skirth grinned. Peter was such a sweet kid. “It would be better if we could all speak freely though, without other people around? We don’t want to scare anyone.”

“Yeah, and I’m not so keen on collateral damage,” Stark agreed more cynically. “We’re meeting here. In my tower. Where all my security systems can eviscerate you before you can even think about trying to hurt anyone.”

“Fine,” she agreed quickly before either of the symbiotes could overreact to the warning.

After they agreed a time and the symbiotes each interrupted to say goodnight to Peter, they were left to decide what they were going to do for the night. As exhausted as they were it was all they could do to find the nearest hotel, pay for their rooms and order room service.

**_“I don’t like leaving them,”_** Carrion fretted once they were alone. **_“What if Riot attacks the tower while we sleep?”_**

“They’ll be fine,” Skirth reassured. “You heard Stark, how confident he is in his security system.”

**_“It sounded like an empty threat,”_** Carrion reminded her. Skirth agreed, but had hoped the symbiote didn’t pick up on that. **_“We are not so foolish.”_**

“If we stay we just make them more of a target,” Skirth pointed out with a sigh. “Besides, we need to rest. Imagine trying to face Riot like this?”

**_“How can we rest? We will never be able to relax,”_** Carrion emphasised the adrenaline still rushing through them, driving the point home.

“We get rid of that energy,” Skirth suggested, cool and logical. “Can I try something, my love?”

It was a low blow, using the new term of endearment to manipulate the symbiote. They would do anything Skirth asked them, if they would call them their love. Carrion agreed without words, going with the flow as Skirth took them to the bed and laid down there, guiding the symbiote’s head on its extended tendrils down to the pillow.

“How much of you can be outward where I can see you?” Skirth wondered, watching as the symbiote formed more of a body until they were joined at the knees where she knelt above them, hovering over where they lay.

She sat back on her knees, taking in the full form the symbiote had created. They looked different like this to how they appeared when they encased her; they shaped themselves, she realised, not from her own form but as a composite of features she found attractive. They crafted themselves to appeal to her.

“You don’t need to do that,” she concluded finally, though she did appreciate the gesture. “Still okay to try something?”

**_“We… want to,”_** Carrion agreed, picking up on Skirth’s own interest, though she was careful not to allow the symbiote to know what she was going to suggest just yet.

“Okay,” Skirth smiled. “I want you to try to stay like this. Human-shaped… I want you to try to stay like this, but I want to try to make you fall apart. Is that okay? If it gets too much, you can just stop me?”

**_“You…”_** Carrion was hesitant, startled. **_“You want to… touch me?”_**

“If you want me to,” Skirth allowed. “I just… you’re so sensitive, and I want to help you relax.”

**_“I could enjoy your pleasure as much, you don’t have to…”_ **

“Do you not want me to…?”

They were both closing parts of their minds away from one another, both cautious and tentative. Skirth tried to be brave, tried to take the lead on this one. She opened up to her symbiote, letting them see how she had pictured this, how it had delighted her to feel the effect she had on her other half when they had fallen apart before. How they had thought about it, hidden from their view, during those hours waiting bored on the rooftop.

**_“What about if I can’t hold on?”_** Carrion worried. **_“If I’m not human-shaped…”_**

“Then I’m doing something right,” Skirth reassured, waiting for the symbiote to finally give a nod of approval before she began.

Whatever she wanted, the symbiote wanted too. She knew her body well, after too many years alone. She knew every sensitive place. Carrion… if they were right, they would be sensitive in the same areas, at least when they were human shaped.

She traced fingers gently over the symbiote’s shoulder, edging gently to the base of the neck and the spot that had made them fall apart the last time. This would not be a surprise this time, but it was an especially sensitive spot for her, and a good place to begin.

If she had been worried her symbiote would be tense, trying to resist falling apart, she was wrong. Every tendril moved and rippled beneath her fingers. They were unable to stay still, though it looked like they were not moving to the eye. The plasma they were made of was constantly flowing through the tendrils, circulating and if she was very careful she could follow at the same speed with her touch, so that she was letting Carrion guide her to where they wanted her the most; her hand came to be wrapped around the back of the symbiote’s neck, so she leaned in for a kiss, forgetting to worry about the razor teeth. Carrion reformed their mouth in a hurry, letting her kiss more human lips, battle for dominance with a human tongue.

“Alright so far?” she questioned, even though she could feel her symbiote’s approval. They nodded, tracing lips with that human-like tongue. “As much as I like kissing you, love, would you go back to your normal mouth? It doesn’t feel like it’s you when you’re like that.”

**_“Don’t want to hurt you,”_** Carrion murmured, closing the gap to kiss her again. Skirth pushed them away, raising an eyebrow.

“You’d never,” she reminded confidently. “Let me see you?”

Carrion shifted, slowly returning their mouth to its normal shape, their long tongue running over their needle-like tips self-consciously. It filled Skirth with guilt to see the symbiote so wary of their own features. Her own judgement, her own lack of acceptance was too fresh and too raw. She knew this was her fault, and she was determined to do something about it.

“That’s better,” she traced Carrion’s teeth with the tip of a finger – sharp as they were it was difficult not to let them cut the skin, and there were no lips to kiss, so this was the best she could do for now. “If I had your tongue this would be much easier.”

Carrion did not lose their form when she kissed their neck, curling her tongue into the hollow of their throat, nor as she nipped below where their ear would be if they had them. They trembled as she caressed over their almost-hips, exploring the anatomy of their created form.

“Turn over,” she suggested on a breath, recalling how the symbiote had helped them relax only a few days prior, though after all that had happened it felt like weeks ago. Carrion did not so much turn as invert; their front becoming their back, arms folding beneath the pillows they rested their forehead on. Skirth waited long enough to build anticipation before stroking a single finger down their back, forcing them to arch upwards as they hit the sensitive point where their spine dipped.

**_“Tickles,”_** Carrion grumbled. **_“Cheating.”_**

“You liked it,” Skirth grinned, not doubting. Carrion was focusing on holding a physical body, not on maintaining any barriers between their minds. Skirth could feel everything the symbiote felt, though at that moment she could still differentiate their feelings from her own. “About… here?”

Her tongue flickered out, lapping over the sensitive spot she had found. Carrion took a shuddering breath, putting more energy into maintaining their form as the sensation reverberated through them, reaching the tips of their fingers like a sound wave. Skirth waited a long moment before blowing gently over the damp spot left by her tongue, cooling the tendrils there. For a moment as the sensation flooded her symbiote’s senses their hands became formless tendrils.

“Lovely,” she praised, entwining her fingers through those formless fronds. “Keep them like this?”

For a few moments this was how they remained, hands entwined, Skirth kissing over their back, occasionally nipping with teeth when she found the perfect spot. She had to pull her hands away to free them, tendrils following wrapped around her wrists.

Carrion’s back was formed as human, making it easier for her to find where muscle groups should be and begin to work on them. She could be gentle here, not needing to massage deeply to get through knotted tissues that simply were not there in the symbiote. The result was the same, Carrion’s body remaining whole but relaxing into the bed, low growls escaping in place of moans and groans.

“Do that again,” Skirth demanded after a particularly loud growl. Carrion trembled beneath her hands, hesitantly replicating the sound. Skirth was not shy, letting them feel how the noise affected her. “Do you know how sexy that sounds?”

They growled once more as she kissed over their hip, nipping and sucking at the tendrils there, wondering idly whether it was possible to leave a mark. The thought more than the sensation reverberated through their minds, Carrion pulling away quickly so as to not fall apart.

**_You can’t,_** they told her, disappointing. She considered it telling that the symbiote chose not to speak aloud even though they still had a mouth to do so with. **_We do not bruise… you do not need to mark me to know I am yours._**

“Well that’s not fair,” she complained, pressing over the point of her own collarbone still lightly bruised from Carrion’s own efforts just those couple of days before. “You feel as I do?”

**_Of course._ **

“Then turn over,” she requested, waiting until they had done so. “Can you feel this?”

As Skirth’s fingers brushed over her own collar bone, Carrion nodded, their eyes narrowing and then suddenly she could feel everything. Her human mind only registered the one body, but that did not seem to limit her to just her own form. She could feel Carrion’s form as an extension of herself, feel the bedsheets beneath her back, the slighter weight of herself hovering over them. She traced her fingers over the same spot on Carrion’s form, the sensation seeming to echo between them.

“Interesting,” she grinned, ideas springing to mind. “Keep that connection open?”

She knew what she liked. One hand on her own body, one hand on Carrion’s, she copied her touch directly, stroking down from that sensitive spot over her collarbone to their breast, thumb tracing around their nipples. She caught her own between thumb and forefinger, nipping gently and arching into her own hand, while replacing her hand with her mouth on Carrion’s, teasing with tongue and teeth. The symbiote’s faint growls became louder, torn from their throat as she sucked, hard, nipping strongly enough that she would have bruised human skin. She could feel tendrils lashing together around her back, the symbiote’s arms unravelling, holding her closer.

She obeyed the symbiote’s silent demand, lingering there, but on her own body allowed her hand to stray. They felt it together, tickling over her stomach and down to trace lightly around her already oversensitive clit, collecting the fluid she needed from between slick folds to make the touch more tolerable. Her symbiote mimicked her anatomy here as with the rest of their form, and she did not give them warning before her thumb mimicked the touch on their form too.

She dropped sharply to the bed; that was all it took. Carrion crumbled into a mass of writhing tendrils, scrambling to pull themselves back together.

“Love, don’t,” Skirth quickly reassured them in their panic. “Stay like this, let me touch you.”

Carrion slowed their attempts, still rippling just a little, tangling around her fingers as she caressed them.

“So, you lost,” Skirth teased once they were calm. “You’re going to have to reward me now.”

Carrion trembled, delighted at the suggestion, tendrils wrapping round Skirth’s arms and forming into hands, the ones reaching out beginning to turn into arms before Skirth could pull away.

“No,” she scolded gently, shaking the hands loose. “As you are, love. In this shape.”

They were uncertain, she felt their doubt, but she did not hide her own thoughts and emotions from them. She hoped that the desire she felt would be enough, and this time, it was. Carrion’s tendrils wrapped around her, reaching right away to her most sensitive points, making no apologies of sucking over her collar bone to mark, delighting in running a tendril along her spine to force her back to arch, all at once using her own actions against her. Skirth bit down hard on her lip to stop herself moaning shamelessly, nearly drawing blood when the symbiote picked up right where she had left off and traced over her clit.

“Steady…” she began to scold pointlessly. Carrion could feel that she did not want what she said, and so they ignored those words, pointedly running a tendril over the sole of each of her feet. Yelping, she snatched her feet away, only for the symbiote’s tendrils to wrap around her knees, holding them upwards and parted as their head reformed over her stomach, long tongue dipping into her belly button. Skirth couldn’t stop herself from squealing, pressing herself hard into the bed trying to evade the ticklish sensation. “Carrey!”

The symbiote laughed, meeting her eyes before they moved down. She was able to watch as they ran their tongue over the insides of her thighs, razor teeth coming close to the sensitive skin there, never quite touching. Had she been with any other partner she would not have admitted the attraction of the added element of danger, but Carrey knew. They always knew.

Their tongue laved over her folds, tasting, never breaking eye contact. They were everywhere, all at once, overwhelming, but that was nothing compared to this, so much more than the physical aspect. It took barely anything to push them over the edge, pleasure overwhelming them both. Carrion did not relent though, tendrils taking place of tongue on her clit, delving deep within her core, filling her and bringing her crashing over that precipice once, twice more before they could no longer keep themselves apart enough to pleasure her, and sank back entirely within her skin.

“God I love you,” Skirth managed to whisper into the darkness before she could fall asleep, shivering slightly as she cooled down.

Carrion slowly emerged from beneath her skin, wrapping her in strong arms and pulling her to their chest, chin resting on her shoulder. They were warm, and they felt like safety embodied. “ ** _I love you too.”_**


	19. Collaborative

“Step this way please,” the very efficient security guard at the front desk suggested. He was a bulky man in a Kevlar vest and entirely unnecessary sun shades that he definitely wore for effect. Unfortunately for him wearing sunglasses inside only succeeded in making him look stupid in Skirth’s opinion. The confidence the man exhibited suggested that he had not been told the nature of the guests he was escorting through the tower that morning. The cameras followed their movements, but there were no other living beings in the foyer.

They doubted the usual foyer included the scanners that faced them; probably installed overnight, in preparation for their arrival. The first was a metal detector, simple enough for them to pass. Eddie had to stop to remove his watch after the detector sounded the first time through.

**_We’re not going through this one,_** Carrion firmly planted their feet before the second scanner, tendrils rooting into the floor tiles.

_We said we were going to play nice,_ Skirth reminded them, trying to move. Eddie kept walking, glancing at them with a confused expression. _What’s wrong?_

**_You know, but do not see,_** Carrion brought to Skirth’s mind a few different pieces of information; the discovery that certain frequencies of sound and radiation affected the symbiotes, the knowledge she had of MRI scanners, the similarities between this machine in Stark’s foyer and one of those machines. This technology was different – more advanced maybe – but definitely looked to work with the same principle. **_He means to study us, but this machine will hurt us._**

“Stark,” she called out to the cameras. “I know you’re listening. Look, we’re not trying to be awkward but this isn’t going to work. We’re not going through this scanner.”

“I regret that I cannot activate the elevators until you have passed through the security, Doctor,” an automated female voice came from speakers around the room.

“But Stark is listening, isn’t he?” she questioned. “Fine…”

Carrion could sense what she was about to say and encouraged her against it, as it would make them more vulnerable. Skirth hushed them, reminding the symbiote they were trying to get Stark on their side.

“Listen, this machine? It looks like it works with magnetic resonance. If you have the data from the Life Foundation you should be able to check the files from the first days of the experiment. We tried to scan the symbiotes. CT was useless, it didn’t give us enough information, they don’t have bones, so we put one of them in an MRI,” she explained, silently apologising to Carrion in retrospect, recalling how they had screamed and thrashed when she had turned on that machine, how quickly she had to turn it off again and how frightened she had been that she might have done irreparable harm. “They couldn’t tolerate it. So none of us are going through that machine.”

There was a pause, a number of seconds in which Stark was most likely checking the footage.

“Swear that you’re telling the truth?”

Carrion hissed aloud. Peter’s voice came through the speakers, asking them for the promise. The symbiote did not appreciate how the boy was used to guarantee their honesty.

**_“Against my better judgement, she does not lie,”_** they admitted. **_Only a terrible father would use their child that way._**

_He’s not actually Peter’s dad Carrey,_ Skirth reminded. _Besides, that probably came straight from Peter._

**_Why would the boy doubt us, we did not hurt him?_** Carrion was a little bit hurt by the suggestion the child hero might not trust them. **_It’s because you didn’t get him chocolate on his pancakes, isn’t it? I told you that was a bad thing to do._**

_Nothing to go with the chocolate, love,_ Skirth chuckled. Whilst they had conversed internally Stark seemed to have made a decision – the elevator doors ahead opened for their entry.

“Can’t we take the stairs?” Eddie shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable. “He could have installed anything in that. Gas, lasers, more scanners…”

“Stark?” Skirth asked the air.

“There are multiple security systems in the elevators, though I can confirm that none of them will be activated unless hostile action is detected, Doctor Skirth,” the automated female voice insisted. “We’re not the bad guys.”

“Yeah? Well neither are we,” she remained suspicious, seeking reassurance from Carrion. The symbiote shifted within her, but eventually directed their legs forwards. “Leap of faith. Right.”

**_Bastard,_** Carrion hissed as soon as the elevator’s music kicked in – the yodelling from Peter’s ringtone. Eddie had laughed and to their horror a Venom-coated fist gave a thumb’s up to the only visible camera. **_“Would you not?”_**

**_“Let the kid have some fun,”_** Venom turned the hand into a face, sticking his tongue out at them – two-foot-long and dripping.

**_“Overgrown child,”_** Carrion huffed their own voice coming through Skirth’s rather than shaping themselves apart.

“Guys, united front,” Skirth reminded, noticing that the elevator had almost reached the top floor and doing her best to ignore the way Eddie was smiling, probably talking with Venom about how he thought it was funny too. Hopefully not planning ways of their own to annoy her. Memories from Carrion of pranks Venom had played on her in the time they had been acting as mentor surfaced. Hopefully though they would at least restrain themselves until this meeting and Riot were dealt with. After that if they had to deal with the immature Venom and his immature host, they would be able to do so – and teach them some manners in the process.

They found Stark behind the bar in the main room, pouring a drink for himself. He was not wearing his suit, but the arc reactor was built in to the otherwise plain black top he was wearing and the bands around his wrists were familiar. It was obvious that he was trying to look casual, unaffected. Skirth did not allow herself to be fooled by the appearance on the surface though. He looked tense, and though he smirked at them when they entered the expression did not reach cold, dead eyes. Peter was on their side of the stone unit, five glasses of chocolate milk in front of him with one half finished. He was wearing a baggy top, the suit peeking out of the top.

“I wasn’t sure whether you would want one each or just for the humans,” Peter excused quickly. “If you don’t want them I can put them in the fridge to keep cool…”

“Hey, kid,” Eddie greeted, glancing down at his legs that moved a little stiffly as Venom took control and he tried to hold back, walking him to the bar stool next to Peter and sitting him down. “Chocolate milk sounds good. Ven?”

Venom used Eddie’s arm to down their own chocolate milk in one, turning their head to Eddie and looking instantly sad, with eyes enlarged into a puppy-dog expression.

“Go on then,” Eddie laughed, and Venom took a second chocolate milk to down.

Stark was watching the relaxed interaction with an unreadable expression, holding up the whiskey bottle to Skirth.

“Something stronger?”

“Please,” she agreed, taking a seat on the other side of Eddie. “I don’t suppose you need introductions?”

“No, but if we’re going to talk I would prefer if we were all visible,” Stark raised an eyebrow. Carrion took the suggestion, forming from Skirth’s side, not just a head but a full torso, complete with arms. They collected their chocolate milk, pushing Skirth’s to Venom by silent agreement.

**_“It is good to meet you, Mister Stark,”_** Carrion greeted formally, professionally. **_“My host has told me much about you. She respects you greatly, and what you have done for this world.”_**

“Ah, so you’re the politician,” Stark scorned, sliding a crystal glass of whiskey to Skirth. His tone was filled with disgust and judgement.

**_“I have been trained in inter-species diplomacy as well as science,”_** Carrion allowed. **_“I would not consider myself to be political. Our species do not have the concept of politics in the same way as your own. We have no elected officials, no need for a governing body. There are few who see things differently to the whole, and those who do usually do not survive for very long.”_**

“Yeah? I suppose you’re about to say ‘we come in peace’ E.T.?”

**_“To do so would be pointless, and dishonest,”_** Carrion shrugged, taking a bolstering sip of their chocolate milk. Skirth strengthened her nerves with her whiskey, trying not to cough at the burn in her throat. **_Why would you drink that, it’s vile? “We did not come here intending peace. There are three of us on your planet. Two of us do, indeed, ‘come in peace’ now, however, one remains hostile to your kind.”_**

“Change of heart?”

**_“Quite literally,”_** Carrion reached out with one hand to run tendrils through Skirth’s unbound hair, watching Stark’s reaction.

“Now that’s just not on,” he complained, frowning at them. The bottom of the crystal glass hit the countertop loudly. “You realise this is the first time since I turned eighteen that I’m sharing a room with someone who’s kinkier than me?”

**_“Children are present,”_** Carrion literally growled, tendrils reaching around Eddie and Venom to cover Peter’s ears. The boy batted them away, and they did not miss the momentary panic in Stark’s expression. **_“Is it not the normal practice for your species to refrain from discussion of sexual topics around minors?”_**

“Hey,” Stark’s manner had completely changed. He looked on the verge of activating the wrist bands. “Don’t touch the kid.”

“It’s okay Mister Stark, they didn’t hurt me…”

“Not the point…” Stark began to say before Venom, spitefully, cast forth tendrils to wrap around Peter and engulf him in a hug. “Hey!”

**_“Think your dad’s going to ground me too?”_** Venom asked playfully, ignoring Eddie who was flustered and trying to tell them that this was a very bad idea.

“He’s not actually my dad,” Peter complained as Stark’s hands clenched into fists and Carrion let out a long-suffering sigh.

**_“And we’re not your parent, Venom, but we swear if you don’t let Peter go now and stop scaring our kind host, I_ will _work out a way to ground you,”_** they grumbled, taking back the extra chocolate milk they had given the other symbiote.

“Maybe the grown ups should talk?” Stark suggested to Skirth and Carrion, looking doubtful at their companions, who had descended into a silent row. Eddie’s lips moved but no sound emerged, while Venom growled wordlessly at him, long tongue lashing over razor teeth.

“Hey!” Eddie and Venom snapped to attention. “We’re not children.”

“Stop acting like it then,” Skirth scolded. “Stark, how much has Peter told you?”

Their conversation turned serious. Despite their insistence that they were mature, Eddie and Venom soon tired of the explanations of their species and their time on this world when Peter challenged them to a game on Stark’s own gaming system. Skirth excused them patiently, explaining to Stark that they were in truth more mature than they were acting – Eddie especially – but that Venom was quite fond of children and would delight in babysitting Peter while they did talk.

“Stay where I can see you,” the superhero warned, letting them head away. “So, if Riot is going to keep killing people and wants to take over the world, well, what do you intend to do about it?”

“We could come to an arrangement,” Skirth suggested. “We would need your help. Riot is a warrior, and we are not. We could not take them on alone.”

“And you think I would make a difference?”

“Absolutely. Even the scanner you have downstairs could be useful. With the technology you develop, your laboratories and with Carrion,” Skirth fondly laid her hand over her symbiote’s, “we could create a way to imprison Riot so that they could cause no more harm.”

“Imprison,” Stark questioned, “not kill?”

“Preferably,” Skirth shrugged.

**_“We are not sentimental,”_** Carrion corrected, **_“But my host believes I will regret if I kill them if I do not have to. I have travelled with them for a long time.”_**

_Keeping your relation a secret?_

**_I see no reason he should have to know,_** the symbiote huffed.

“We would need to do a few things to trap them,” Skirth explained. “We would have to separate them from their host. We might have no choice but to kill their host to do that. We don’t need to fight for that necessarily. The right frequency sound wave would do it, but it might also hurt Carrey and Venom. Fire would be a better bet, and so long as it stops when they are separated it wouldn’t harm the symbiote. Riot will use all of the strength their host has to resist breaking the connection, because as symbiote alone they would be vulnerable. Not just to attack – the atmosphere here is not all that suitable for us.”

**_“Wherever any fight occurred would need to be away from other possible hosts, human and animal,”_** Carrion continued. **_“We will also need to check that your suit is symbiote-proof. That is where the lab access comes into it.”_**

“Once separated from a host, Riot would have little choice but to retreat to the nearest safe environment or perish. We could create containers, like the ones we used at the Life Foundation, and give Riot the chance to retreat into one.”

“It all sounds fairly straight forwards,” Stark scowled. “Why could you not do that alone?”

“For one thing we don’t have the technology to make it work,” Skirth shrugged. “Also, we would like to work with you rather than against you. Helping the world to be safe from Riot? That seems like a good way to prove our honesty, don’t you think?”

**_“We hope to form good relationships with your world. We would prefer to live here peacefully, in any way we can,”_** Carrion pulled together an extremely tempting mental image for Skirth; a house in the country, countless sheep in the fields surrounding them for Carrion to eat, the laughter of children playing in the garden, a number of dogs bounding around their feet as they wrote together in front of a roaring fireplace, creating the first draft for a book on alien cultures for the reference of the general public.

“How much time do we have?” Stark was already loading up several programmes in a holographic computer display, hands moving quickly to achieve his goal. Already the specs for the adapted magnetic scanner downstairs was loaded, along with the blueprints of the Life Foundation’s symbiote containers.

**_“Essentially none. Riot burns through hosts quickly. They will keep killing every couple of days, needing a new host or a meal,”_** Carrion was watching the screens with interest, taking it all in. A tendril flicked out to one of the displays, changing a few numbers in the sequence for the magnetic scanner, and then a few more; the output data changed massively. All of a sudden, the size of magnet required to produce the same output was significantly reduced. **_“The faster we can have the technology we need to face them, the better.”_**

“You said you’re a scientist?” Stark had stopped working, focused on the changes Carrion had made; simple to them, incomprehensible even to Skirth.

**_“We are,”_** Carrion looked proudly to Skirth, prodding at her mentally to act on her own thoughts. Skirth sighed, taking control of the display which showed the container the Life Foundation had used, tweaking the design so that the power requirements would be lower and it would be possible to supply the device from a normal mains power supply. **_“With our help we could be ready as quickly as you can obtain the materials we need and the equipment to put them together, Iron Man.”_**

“You’re expecting me to just let you loose in my lab?”

“Would you rather Riot kill more people whilst you trawl through data I collected?” Skirth challenged. “Data I know by rote, every bit of it. How to hurt a symbiote, how to make one return to their container. The exact sound waves, the exact magnetic fields, every detail.”

**_“And to wait for you to make advances in technology beyond that of your own species, whilst we sit idly even though we have this knowledge already,”_** Carrion sniffed haughtily. **_“Venom may only be young, an apprentice, but I assure you their knowledge of the required topics far surpasses the collective knowledge of your world.”_**

“You know,” Stark considered the symbiote for a moment, knocking back another glass of expensive whiskey. “I hope you’re on our side, because I think I’m starting to like you, E.T., you’re speaking my language.”

* * *

 

The lab was… chaos.

It had been neat enough when they started, the robots having put everything into perfect order. By the time Venom and Stark had worked together to strip the magnetic scanner from the foyer and bring it upstairs – carried by Peter, who really was extraordinarily strong for such a small kid – and scatter the salvageable parts around the workstations on the eastern side of the building, it was already looking a mess.

Skirth and Carrion had taken a gentler tack at first, tinkering with an existing container – the one which had held Venom for so long, they recognised – and adjusting its power supply to charge it for a year’s worth of battery. However, with the scanner stripped of everything useful they joined in, cluttering the lab circuit boards and wires, using the extra hands and tendrils to weld, hammer, hold and create several parts at a time, alternately giving instructions to Venom and Eddie for their part.

Eddie was intelligent, but not a scientifically minded man. He was happy for Venom to do what they needed with their body – human and symbiote – so long as Venom kept up a running commentary about what they were doing. They listened patiently, with an expression that was sometimes blank betraying their lack of understanding. Skirth and Carrion silently agreed that the man was just enjoying listening to his symbiote’s voice and possibly revelling in how intelligent the symbiote was.

Stark worked on his suit while they worked on their weapon. He did not want them to come near it until he was done, but about halfway through the evening he had asked Venom to try to infiltrate the suit. He had thought it should be symbiote proof, but did not count on their ability to pass through the sealants he had used at the joints. They could not pass through the metal, but when Venom’s tendrils touched the insides of his elbows he had thrown himself backwards against the wall and through it, the concrete and plaster collapsing with a cloud of dust. He was left hovering more than twenty floors from the ground, over the street below, and it had taken him a moment to return inside, shaken.

Carrion had helped sympathetically, creating a polymer that would not allow the symbiote to pass through. It was stronger than the materials which usually laid beneath the joints of the suit but less flexible, not something he would use for any other purpose than fighting this symbiote.

The crowning glory of the lab’s destruction occurred when Peter, bored with watching and waiting for them to be done and not understanding the process, had left the lab and returned with a pair of sheep. He had returned to the place he gathered the others from to pay for the ones he took and bought two more – just in case his symbiote friends were peckish. Skirth and Stark had berated him for leaving without warning them whilst the sheep ran around the lab, breaking everything they came into contact with.

**_“It is done,”_** Carrion concluded, turning the weapon over in her hands. The device looked something like a gun, made that way for the human’s benefit, but it sent a very narrow beam of magnetic force. Skirth honestly did not understand how it was controlled – it certainly defied all laws of physics known to humans – but she trusted her symbiote and they had achieved their goal. **_“Your suit is ready, and the container too.”_**

“I’ll take that then,” Stark held out his hand for the gun, but Carrion passed it instead to Eddie, Venom having returned within after their sheep snack.

**_“Venom is an excellent marksman,”_** they explained. **_“You will need to be available to provide back up firepower if they are stopped.”_**

“So if Venom and I are fighting, what are you going to do?”

**_“Try to reason with them?”_** Carrion said, then shook their head. **_“It won’t work, of course… I suppose I’m the bait. If I demand to talk, Riot will come. And I will have the container ready to trap them once they are separated from their host… or their host is destroyed.”_**

“What about me?” Peter asked from his perch at the back of the lab.

“You stay here, where you’re safe,” Skirth commanded.

“You’re grounded kid,” Stark reminded. “You’re not to leave this building till I come back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the most dramatic chapter but including the next bit this one was getting ridiculously long, so I've cut this here...


	20. Children

“Do you actually think he’ll stay put?”

“Not if he had any choice in the matter,” Stark rolled his eyes. “Friday, total lockdown. Nothing comes in or out.”

“Lockdown protocols activated Mister Stark,” the artificial intelligence confirmed from his ear piece, loud enough for the others to hear. “The laboratory remains damaged, and cannot be protected. Shall I exclude it from the building?”

“Yeah, don’t let anything in past the lab either,” Stark watched as an electronic barrier, glowing faintly blue, covered the walls of the building. “That should keep the kid in and safe at least.”

“He can’t turn it off?” Eddie fretted.

 ** _“He is intelligent,”_** Venom added. **_“You are sure he can’t bypass it?”_**

“These systems can’t be hacked by the world’s top ten so-called intelligence agencies,” Stark boasted casually. “They’re not going to be beaten by a fifteen-year-old. Besides, Friday will alert me if there’s even a hair out of line.”

 ** _“We should go,”_** Carrion prompted, “ ** _We can’t risk Riot finding us_ here. _”_**

“I’ll take point,” Stark fired up his repulsors, the visor closing on his suit as he lifted into the air.

“Rooftops,” Skirth grinned at Eddie, who gulped and grimaced.

“I guess,” he reluctantly agreed, glancing at Venom’s separate head. The symbiote sank back beneath his skin before engulfing him entirely, launching up the nearest wall.

 ** _We have to teach them to climb without causing so much damage,_** Carrion sighed, climbing without leaving the scratches in the brickwork that Venom had.

They moved quickly, but deliberately. Carrion kept their senses tuned, tongue curling out to taste the air frequently, searching. Waiting for any sign that Riot might be there, might be following them.

The park was their destination, Carrion certain that the elder symbiote would be watching for their arrival. They knew their parent well enough to have confidence that they would wait at least a short while for them to make their decision. They would not have any emotional interest in having Carrion join them, but would see it as a personal insult if they did not do so.

Stark was inconspicuous, the suit able to fly high enough to be hidden by the clouds on this overcast night. This was another reason they had not delayed; the weather conditions were perfect to hide him from Riot’s senses.

 _Do you think he’s here?_ Skirth questioned, not finding any sign of the other symbiote.

 ** _They are not following us, but they will be here,_** Carrion spoke confidently. Eddie and Venom moved ahead into the tree line, Carrion waiting for any sort of sign of Riot’s approach before they were to move in to the park.

_Why would they come here now? They must know the danger they put themselves in if they do._

**_They have injured us once already. They will be expecting an attack. They will, however, be overconfident._ **

Skirth was not sure that Carrion’s reasoning made sense, but they knew their parent and they were sure in their conclusions. She trusted her symbiote. She would follow where they led, even if that meant taking a huge chance.

Time passed though as the night wore on. The overcast sky turned instead to drizzle and then torrential rain, Carrion creating something of an umbrella over their form for comfort rather than practicality. They could not be cold from the rain whilst encasing Skirth anyway.

Venom was impatient, and came out of the tree line more than once, looking around. They let Eddie be themselves a while too, keeping an umbrella over his head but otherwise resting. Eddie spoke a few times with Stark through the ear pieces they had been given, checking on Peter.

Almost two hours had passed before they finally saw movement in the darkness. Carrion, still attentive, took them down in to the park, watching Riot’s steel grey figure prowl the nearby rooftops.

“Guys, I realise this is bad timing, but we have a problem,” Stark’s voice came through the earpieces, shaky and breathless.

 ** _“We know, they are here,”_** Carrion responded immediately, not taking their eyes off the other.

“No, no… not them,” Stark was suddenly visible as spots of flame beneath the cloud line, streaking away from the park and back towards the tower.

 ** _“The child?”_** Venom immediately fretted.

“Friday’s gone down,” he told them in a rush. “I don’t know how long… they’re on loop. They’ve given me the same vital signs for the kid three times in a row… I don’t know if he’s safe…”

 ** _“We can’t leave now,”_** Carrion overruled. **_“If we go back we could be leading Riot to him, Stark, we have to deal with this first…”_**

“I’m not leaving him in danger!”

Riot dropped from the rooftops, disappearing into the trees.

 ** _“Venom, concentrate, it’s down to us now,”_** Carrion squared themselves for the fight, tongue tasting the air sensing Riot coming closer by the moment. Overhead Stark could still be seen, a streak of light headed away, disappearing in the direction from which Riot had come. **_“Be ready…”_**

 ** _“Child of mine, you have been foolish,”_** Riot growled from the shadows. **_“You have made the wrong choice.”_**

 ** _“Show yourself,”_** Carrion spoke more quietly, so that wherever they were they would have to strain to hear. **_“Face me like a warrior.”_**

 ** _“You are no warrior, child,”_** Riot did not hesitate to rise to the challenge, striding out of the tree line confidently. This form was slighter than the last they had encased, leaving them with powerful muscles out of place on a narrow body, making them look less natural, more alien. **_“As I proved, last we met.”_**

 ** _“You are right, I am not, and I don’t want to fight you,”_** Carrion allowed. **_“But I will, if I must. If you will not listen to reason.”_**

 ** _“’Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms,’”_** Riot recited arrogantly. **_“One of my hosts was a fan of Charlotte Bronte. Intelligent, for a human. Bronte, not the host. You know what the quote means?”_**

 ** _“I can guess what it means to you,”_** Carrion scowled.

 ** _“It means, child of mine, that you should not let your host’s emotions rule your logical mind,”_** Riot continued without awaiting an answer. **_“You have a weakness for such tendencies, but you must not confuse their futile emotions with who you are separate to your host.”_**

“He’s not listening,” Eddie whispered through their earpiece, “Keep clear.”

Carrion could not stop them, could not delay for Stark to get back, not without letting Riot know what was about to happen. They could only watch as Eddie and Venom activated their weapon, firing with perfect aim into Riot’s chest.

The symbiote shrieked, their tendrils leaping to the extremities of the form they held, snatching them out of range of the gun with a thin strand of silver webbing.

**_“Stop!”_ **

They had already lowered the weapon, Eddie gawping in horror as the steel grey of the symbiote sank within the skin of the human they cohabited, revealing a red and black webbed suit with a spider upon the chest.

His face was left bare, smiling down at them with a sinister grin that had no place on the child’s features. Riot was there in his usually innocent eyes, in the way his human fingers formed a claw around the branch of the tree, in the way he held his shoulders.

“Stark,” Skirth murmured as Carrion withdrew beneath her skin with a shudder of disgust and shock. “We’ve found Peter.”

“Hello ma’am,” Riot twisted the child’s voice, sarcastic and malignant. “Are you surprised to see me?”

_I thought Stark’s security system was meant to keep him safe…?_

**_He only said that humans could not break through it… but I did not think they would…_ **

Skirth could hear Stark frantically talking through the earpiece, telling them that he was on his way, begging them not to hurt the boy. Asking them to save him from Riot. Eddie spoke back to him, trying to work out a way to separate the symbiote without them hurting Peter. Carrion, who knew there was no way to do so, snatched their earpiece away. They needed to concentrate.

“What will it take for you to let the child go?” they asked together, trying not to sound as desperate as they felt.

“What is his life worth to you I wonder?” Peter’s twisted voice questioned, silver webbing looping round the tree branch he was perched on. He flipped upside down so that the only thing holding him from going head first into the ground was that fine strand of web. “You always did have a soft spot for children.”

“Your terms,” they growled.

“Oh, I am not unreasonable,” Riot grinned. “Some might even call me kind. You see, I have been thinking since we last met, child.”

Behind Riot they could see Stark getting closer, the repulsors on full power as he approached. Had Riot been inhabiting any other host it would have been a relieving sight, but with Peter in danger, there was nothing more he could do but wait.

“You have bonded so closely with your host,” Riot scorned. “Bring them with you, if you like, or leave them behind here where they can be safe. I am willing to give you time. One hundred Earth years. Time enough for your beloved host to live their life, and this bizarre arachnid child.”

A string of webbing shot from an open palm, Riot following it to a tree near Venom, looking down.

“I will even allow you, apprentice, to remain here with these humans if you choose. I have no use for you anyway,” they lashed out with tendrils, snatching the specially crafted gun from Eddie’s hands and snapping it in two. Eddie and Venom did not try to stop them, not willing to anger them. Not whilst they inhabited Peter’s body. “Carrion, join me. We will find another world, one that can satisfy our species until these humans you are so fond of have passed. Their lives are so short. One hundred of their years is nothing to us.”

**_“And in a century? There will still be humans, still worth saving,”_ **

“We return, with other symbiotes, and you do your duty to your species,” Riot growled, dissonant to the childish voice. “Sparing these individual humans you have become fond of is already more than you should be asking of a fellow symbiote.”

 ** _“Give Peter back,”_** they demanded fiercely. **_“Give him back, and I will join you…”_**

“I don’t think so,” Riot laughed. “Besides, I need the ride. You will come to me, not the other way round. By midnight tomorrow, or the boy dies. His meat is so fresh…”

Carrion and Venom’s wordless growls cut Riot off, but their laughter in response was chilling; it was Peter’s laugh, light and carefree. Stolen, like his body, like his voice.

“If anyone but you tries to approach, child, I will end the boy,” Riot warned. “Make your decision before midnight tonight. I will await you.”

**_“Where?”_ **

“You do not need me to answer that question,” Riot scorned. “Think on it.”

A long chain of webbing emerged from their palm, catching the edge of a rooftop in the distance and snatching them away, over Skirth’s head and into the darkness.

* * *

 

Stark was beyond reasoning with. Back at the tower he had not removed his suit before he began to tear the electronics from the walls, destroying the artificial intelligence’s already disabled operating system thoroughly and viciously. Plaster crumbled and glass shattered from force of repulsor blasts, the suit silencing his screams of rage.

Venom and Eddie sat on the sofa in the centre of Stark’s main sitting room, where they had sat beside Peter playing games earlier in the day. The space beside them was untouched by the destruction that covered every other surface. They did not speak, barely moved. Neither of them had ever faced a situation like this before, they did not know how to react. They could not rush in to save the boy. Doing so would mean his certain death. Neither could they think of anything else, and so they spoke through thoughts, trying to figure out something, anything that they could do.

Carrion and Skirth had tried to stop the destruction at first, but Stark was not in a fit state of mind to calm down for anyone. After a while they retreated to his rooftop, where the sounds of the city were their only distraction.

“What are we going to do?” Skirth whispered into the night, not surprised when Carrion manifested a physical form against her back, wrapping her in their strong arms.

 ** _“I must go to them, we must give in,”_** Carrion whispered. They had been thinking about this since the moment Riot had made their demands.

“There has to be another way,” Skirth tried to turn, tried to face Carrion, but the symbiote just moved with her body, remaining behind her. They did not want to meet her eyes.

 ** _“There isn’t. If we don’t give in, if I don’t go, Riot will not hesitate to kill Peter,”_** Carrion’s arms quivered, separating briefly into tendrils and reforming. **_“I will not let that happen to someone who matters.” Not again._**

The memory washed over her like a wave, surrounding her until the memory was all that there was – all that she could see, and feel. All of a sudden they were standing on four dog-like paws, dirt between their toes, a warm breeze ruffling their fur rather than the cold of the rain on their back.

There were no words in this mind, only sensations, instincts and emotions. There were no lines between where they ended, and their host began. They breathed together, felt together, made decisions together. They had never felt anything like this before, either of them. It was strange, it was intoxicating, and they did not want to lose this. This was surely what they were meant to be, how they were meant to live. Two halves of the same whole.

They had not devoured this host as they were meant to. Their team disapproved, but with no mission pending they had time. They could indulge themselves in this form, this mind, this bond. They could take on a different role here – more than a scientist. There was only one socially acceptable reason to keep a host for so long.

Their belly was weighed down, their movements slower. Their instincts sent them into the tunnels beneath the earth. They coped with the pain better than their host, so they spared them that. Their pups were strong, intelligent, lively. All but one, the runt of the litter, who needed more of their care than the others. They struggled to get them through those first weeks, and when all their eyes opened they took them out of the cave systems into the light.

They played with their pups, teaching them how to be strong. How to hunt for the lesser creatures, the ones they and their symbiotes would need to eat to survive, to grow and make themselves worthy hosts to continue their bloodline, to be accepted as breeding hosts so that they would live.

This world would not last forever, the hunger of the symbiotes had already disrupted the delicate ecosystem. Species were dying out. It would only be a matter of time before Carrion would be needed again, time for them to find another world. Riot, their parent, began to visit. They were impatient. They wanted to travel. They wanted to move on.

Carrion would not go, not yet. They had their pups to care for, to grow strong and into adulthood so that they would be most prepared for a symbiote, so that they could find a bond like they shared with their own host.

Then it happened. Riot visited, away from the pups, and when they returned to the den the runt was gone.

They did not believe they would be hurt. Riot would not do that to them, Riot knew how much they cared for those pups. They loved them. They loved them as their own – host and symbiote, as one.

Riot came once more. They had to leave. There was a ship on the horizon, an alien race come to explore. They could stow away, find a more advanced world for their species. These hosts, these canines, they were so simple. And, if they left that day, Riot would return their lost pup.

They were furious. They attacked Riot, teeth and claws and tendrils. They lost. Tail between their legs, they followed their commander’s instructions. They took the pups to the pools, where the young symbiotes remained until they were strong enough to take hosts of their own. They knew the pups would be safe, so long as they found a symbiote to bond with them. They watched as one by one they found those who would remain with them for the rest of their lives.

They returned to Riot, offered themselves for the mission. They left their host, who waited patiently for the runt to be returned to them.

Riot allowed their host to leave. Forced them to leave, alone.

They never spoke of what happened to the smallest of Carrion’s host’s children. Carrion knew, though. They had fought back, they had attacked Riot. And hosts, to the symbiotes, were worthless. Carrion’s attachment was weakness. The pup belonged to their host, not to them. Riot had made their point.

A shiver ran through human limbs, leaning against the wall where they had staggered to remain upright on human feet, hands helping them stay standing where Carrion supported them.

“You said you weren’t a mum,” Skirth accused on a breath.

**_I am not. My host was._ **

“You want as I want,” Skirth reasoned, “You feel as I feel. You loved, as your host loved.”

**_Do you have a point?_ **

“You loved them as your own.”

Carrion quivered. Skirth understood the wave of emotions that surged through them; tears came to her own eyes on Carrion’s behalf. The sorrow, the pain. It was gone as quickly as it had come.

**_You see why I must go to them? You see what Riot will do if I do not?_ **

Skirth turned to Carrion, the symbiote allowing her that freedom this time, wrapping her arms around the symbiote's construct body and burying her face into their shoulder.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are completely allowed to yell at me for this one so long as you do so appropriately (don't wish me dead guys, if I die you don't get any possible solution to this disaster)


	21. Chapter 21

It made no sense for the dawn sunlight to be shining so brightly, nor for her eyes to be open.

They had gone to sleep in Stark’s building, Carrion wrapped around her. Unless they were able to find another plan, this could be their last night together and they wanted to spend it in each other’s embrace.

They were not in the building now. They were not inside at all.

Skirth stumbled as one of the hundreds of people around her knocked her shoulder with the carelessness of the usual morning commuter. She tried to work out how she was there, in the middle of the street, fully dressed and ready for the day. She blinked a few times, her eyes still glazed with sleep as if she had not opened them until that point. As her vision cleared she could work out that she was outside the shopping centre on Market Street, a long way from Stark’s tower.

_Carrey?_ The symbiote did not answer her. _Carrey, this isn’t funny…_

The rain had stopped, though the sky remained overcast and dreary. Her mind was slow to catch up with what instinctively, emotionally she already knew.

_Carrey?_

There was nothing. No movement beneath her skin, no presence within her that was a part of her and at the same time not her own. No whispered words to soothe her as she realised what her symbiote had done.

They were already gone. Disappeared, into the crowd, possibly hopping from host to host undetected. They had brought them to a public place, kept their mind asleep whilst they used the physical shape to travel. They could be so very far away even in the moments she had been aware of her surroundings, undetected by those they used for less than a moment to move away.

They had not said goodbye. That hurt, her heart ached desperately. She had not been able to say goodbye, and now… this was so wrong. They had promised one another, last night, that they would wait as long as possible for a plan before they gave in to Riot. They had a whole day to come up with something. Carrion should not have left yet, should surely have trusted in them to find a way.

They should not have left her, in the night, never able to say farewell.

She was cold. Shivering, actually, without a coat. Rubbing her arms to try to get some warmth into them only upset her more, because with Carrey her body temperature had always run hot, even if outside felt cold. But her skin was now covered in goose bumps, and her hands were freezing.

She bought a coat from the nearest shop, shrugging it around her shoulders before she flagged down a taxi to take her back to the Stark Industries building. Though it physically warmed her, having the heavy material wrapped around her rather than the encasing tendrils of her symbiote left her feeling cold inside.

* * *

 

**_Good morning Eddie._ **

Eddie turned over in the bed slowly, groggy. He had never been much of a morning person. The symbiote was helpful, getting him out of bed and brushing his teeth for him so that he did not need to make the effort. Hitting the snooze button just wasn’t an option with Venom around.

His sleep had been fitful, broken with worry. He had tossed and turned through the night, unable to stop fretting about Peter and trying to think of any way to save the child without losing Carrion. He joined Venom in concern for them both; they did not want to choose one or the other. There had to be a way to get them both back. There had to be a way to defeat Riot.

Venom was terrified of Riot, but they were not afraid of a fight. They would risk themselves if they had to; Eddie admired that. They were brave, and heroic, in a way that Eddie had always wished he could be but never achieved in his life. If risking themselves was what it would take to save everyone, they would do so without hesitation.

Eddie was not so brave, but he could be with Venom there to support him. Everything he had always thought that he was missing, Venom fulfilled. Everything he was lacking, Venom could be. They fit together like puzzle pieces.

He could never imagine giving Venom up, not now that he knew how this felt, how it was to be so completed. He could only imagine the fear that must be consuming Skirth and Carrion, if they felt even half the bond he had already found with his symbiote. And they had been together so much longer, worked together so perfectly.

**_I will never leave you, Eddie,_** Venom reassured, sensing their host’s reflections. **_We are complete._**

_I know,_ Eddie sighed, taking control of the hand combing his hair to prevent the mess that Venom was making of it.

“Have you seen Doctor Skirth?” Eddie asked Stark when they joined the superhero in their lab. Stark had not slept at all, working with what remained of his technology through the night. Friday’s systems in the tower had been torn out, but the AI watched and spoke with him through the suit helmet, connected as it was to the other buildings around the country. “I thought they’d be in here with you.”

“No,” Stark dismissed summarily, focus not broken from the circuit board he was trying to connect into the gun-like device he was creating. “Is it morning?”

“They’re not in the room,” Eddie frowned. They had checked where the others had gone to sleep the night before already, expecting to need to wake them. “What are you working on?”

“Fixing what was broken,” Stark managed to get the wire connected and leaned back, scowling at Eddie. “It might not make much difference but I needed to do something. Don’t suppose you’ve had any ideas?”

**_“If we can get Peter away from Riot, we can attack them,”_** Venom suggested simply.

“What you talked about on the phone,” Eddie built on the symbiote’s thought. “The what was it? Gone baby gone protocol? That would bring Peter back here, right?”

“Right, it would get him to somewhere safe,” Stark nodded. “But if Riot is inhabiting the kid…”

“The best we can come up with is for Carrion to promise to join Riot if Riot lets Peter go, but then when Peter’s safe we attack,” Eddie scowled. “We’re not soldiers or tacticians.”

“Have you considered the consequences if that goes wrong?” Stark sighed, rubbing his forehead in futile attempts to lessen an apparent headache. “I… I don’t want to be the one to say this, but one hundred years is a long time for humanity. Maybe we just… have to go with this? I don’t like negotiating with terrorists any more than the next superhero but if we actually believe Riot’s promise it would give us time. If Carrion goes with them Peter would be freed and everyone would be safe. And when symbiotes return to this planet in a hundred years we would be ready. Venom could help us be ready, couldn’t you?”

**_“I… could,”_** Venom shifted uncomfortably. Eddie knew they had some concerns about their abilities, their level of knowledge not as useful as Carrion’s. They were only halfway through their apprenticeship to the older symbiote. **_“But I do not believe Riot. They say they would give a hundred years but they have lied to the team before.”_**

“If they want Carrion to be loyal to them they would have to follow through though?”

**_“Not…”_** Venom sighed. They had been considering this overnight, bounced the idea off Eddie and they both agreed that it was possible. **_“Not if they don’t need Carrion to stay loyal. They need to be able to bring symbiotes here. For that they would need Carrion, they would need a scientist to be able to get a ship into space. Once that ship is on its way, they might just… kill Carrion.”_**

“I thought they were Carrion’s dad?”

**_“Biologically. Emotionally, they have never held a connection with them. That is not how symbiotes usually work,”_** Venom explained. **_“We only understand emotion in the terms of our host’s. Carrion has defied them more than once now. They will want them dead.”_**

“Do you think Carrion knows this?” Stark frowned as Eddie nodded. “Friday, where is E.T. just now?”

“My sensors are out of service,” Friday reminded him, the artificial tone slightly bitter. “Perhaps a search with the suit would suffice?”

_We should search too,_ Eddie suggested, taking them towards the elevator. _You don’t think…_

**_Carrion would not let the Doctor stop them, they would leave before she could work this out,_** Venom spoke softly even in thoughts, sadly. **_They would not want to hurt any of us. They would make the choice before we had to._**

_We’re not going to find them, are we?_ Eddie stopped, turning back to Stark. _You already know…_

**_We spoke before they left,_** the symbiote confessed guiltily. **They will send Peter back.**

“Stark!” Eddie rushed to stop the man before he could take off in the suit. “Wait!”

W _here did they go?_

**_I am sorry, Eddie,_** Venom shifted, clumsily creating barriers within their mind to shield what they knew and had to keep from him. **_I cannot tell you, not unless Peter is back. I gave Carrion my word._**

_We can still save both of them,_ Eddie had no idea how to break down the barriers Venom constructed, could only try to convince them. _There has to be something we can do…_

**_We will, once Peter is safe,_** Venom was firm. **_Children should be protected._**

“They’re gone,” Eddie told Iron Man before the visor could click closed. “They’ve already gone.”

“What?”

_How long ago did they go?_

**_Long enough. Skirth will be back soon._ **

_They aren’t together?_ Eddie couldn’t imagine how painful that would be for them. He had been together with Venom for only a few days now, but already he struggled to picture what it would be like to be without the symbiote, now that he knew how this felt. With Skirth and Carrion, they had been together for so long, they were so close with one another.

**_Carrion would not put her in danger. She will return to us._ **

_She wouldn’t let Carrion do this…_ Eddie resolved with certainty. After all, he would not allow Venom to go to their death, knowingly, even if it meant risking Peter. A life for a life, even the life of a child, was not something he could bear to contemplate.

**_She has not been given a choice._ **

 

When the elevator doors opened a quarter of an hour later and Skirth entered, Eddie was sure she had aged a decade in a day. Her usual confident, assured stance was gone, her slight frame looking even smaller than its diminutive height with shoulders slumped and eyes downcast. She clutched an oversized coat around her tightly, though she did not look cold, seeking some limited comfort from it. She kicked her high heels away as soon as she stepped inside, making her way to an armchair where she curled up without a word, staring blankly at the floor.

“We’ll get Carrey back,” Eddie promised. It was the only think he could think of to say, even though he was not sure it was true. “We’ll do whatever it takes.”

“Tough break Emily Rose,” Stark perched on the armchair beside her, his casual words softened by the offer of a very full glass of whiskey. Skirth glanced at the beverage, grimaced, and pulled her knees up to her chest.

“They made the right choice,” she told them both. “We can’t undermine that. I just wish they’d let me say goodbye properly… just give me some space, let me mourn.”

“They’re still alive,” Eddie reminded her. “They’re gone, but they’re not dead.”

“It amounts to the same thing,” Skirth sighed heavily. “A hundred years. I will be dead before they come back.”

“If we knew where they were, we could go there, we could find a way to save both of them, Peter and Carrey,” Eddie tried, not expecting any better answer than he was getting from his symbiote. “We could wait until the moment Peter is safe and strike.”

“Worst case scenario once Peter’s safe would be for E.T. to get caught in the crossfire,” Stark reminded her. “I know that wouldn’t be good but… one symbiote versus risking the entire world? You knew Carrion best, which would they choose?”

“If they wanted you to interfere at all they would have spoken to you about it in advance.”

Slowly, reluctantly, and with a lot of prodding from Eddie, Venom rose up out of his shoulder and, tendrils wringing together nervously, they spoke.

**_“Well, actually…”_ **

* * *

 

This host was frightened, the emotion a bitter taste that shook the symbiote’s very being and made them want nothing more but to release them, find another host. To go back, find Skirth, forget all about this. But the child was still in danger, would be killed if they did not act, and this host was a horrible person, the kind who Skirth would have approved of them hunting had the circumstances been better.

They piloted them over the rooftops and through the countryside. They found the building they searched for without difficulty. The huge structure, bustling with activity when they saw it last in daylight, guarded even at night, looked empty now. The doors were locked up tightly, but on the upper floors a huge glass wall had been smashed inwards; a perfect entry way for a symbiote.

Riot was waiting there, lounging on a platform high above the makeshift entrance, still in the child’s body, still clothed in the Spiderman suit. They glanced down as Carrion entered, smirking. The expression was still strange on the innocent features.

“Predictable.”

Carrion growled, so desperately wanting to attack, knowing that they dare not. Peter was in danger, even now. Especially now. One wrong move on their part and he could die. They would not be responsible for the death of another child.

**_“You wanted me here,”_** they replied, trying to pitch their tone as passively as they could despite their rage. **_“Let the child go free now.”_**

“Oh Carrion, young one… no,” Riot laughed. “The moment this boy goes free you plan to betray me. No, the boy stays until you have completed your task.”

**_“Which is?”_ **

Webbing slowly began to lower the child down from the platform, upside down, until their eyes were level with Carrion’s. “Child’s play, for you, little scientist.”

The words were spoken with the utter scorn Riot felt for the profession, their hatred for Carrion’s life choices evident. **_“What do you want?”_**

“The rocket,” Peter’s body turned on the webbing, facing towards the North side of the building, a spaceship visible through the glass. “Complete it. Prepare it for launch. It shouldn’t take you too long – it’s only rocket science. You have until midnight.”

**_“What happens at midnight?”_ **

“I’m hungry,” Riot grinned. “Best get to work.”

**_“That wasn’t the deal. I came here, you have to let Peter go.”_ **

“I don’t _have_ to do anything,” Riot shot webbing across the room, using it to swing away. “Get to work.”


	22. Chapter 22

“We can’t just… let this happen,” Eddie pleaded with Venom. Stark had taken themselves back to the lab, unable to spend any more time in Skirth’s presence. He didn’t – couldn’t understand the depth of what she was feeling, and Eddie had the impression he was not so good at coping with the emotions of others anyway. Eddie had tried to remain with her, tried to console her as much as he was able, but she had eventually declared that she needed him to leave and so Venom had taken them to the rooftop. Not a comfortable place for Eddie to be, but giving them an overview of the city that helped Venom to feel safe.

**_If Peter comes back we can…_ **

“No,” Eddie resolved firmly. “No, I know he’s just a kid but… this is bigger than that. This isn’t just Peter and Carrion. If Riot succeeds, if they bring the other symbiotes, this is the world. This is every child.”

**_Eddie…_** Venom formed a head facing them. **_“I promised I would not tell you where they have gone, but… if you were to work it out for yourself…”_**

“You’d help?”

**_“We can’t just let this happen,”_** Venom’s echo was determined, resolved.

“But where would they have…”

**_“They need to leave this planet. There are only so many crafts here capable…”_ **

“You don’t think… wouldn’t that be a bit obvious?”

**_“If it were not they would not need Peter as hostage,”_** Venom turned them around. The city stretched out before them, but their view was not hindered by the other buildings; Stark’s was the largest in the surrounding area. Far beyond in the distance, a lone facility stood apart from the rest, surrounded by open fields. The compound was well contained and hidden, but even with all their protections the nose of a rocket poked out from the walls, silver and shining in the morning sunlight.

“They’ll be expecting us.”

**_“Yes.”_ **

“They’ll be ready for a fight.”

**_“Of course.”_ **

Eddie took a deep, shuddering breath, looking to the symbiote and meeting their eyes. “We have to, don’t we?”

**_“Yes, Eddie,”_** Venom looked behind them, over the city, the thousands of people going about their days. **_“We have to try.”_**

* * *

 

“How long?”

**_“An hour. Maybe two?”_** Carrion hedged, not looking round at where Riot lounged, still within Peter’s skin. They surrounded their own temporary host, fuelling themselves desperately from their host’s spleen. In their mind their host screamed with the pain, but their carefully maintained barriers blocked that out, mostly. They were not a scientist like Skirth; they had nothing to add, and they were a terrible person. Carrion reminded themselves of this repeatedly, though they regretted the torture they were putting the frightened human through.

Riot was lounging overhead, laid in a hammock made of webbing. They were spending most of their time monitoring Carrion, but not exclusively. They had left for a short while to head deeper into the facility with just a word of warning about what would happen to Peter if Carrion tried to betray them. Whatever they were doing at that point it involved the lab where they had all been kept, all those months ago when the Life Foundation were doing their experiments.

“Not good enough,” Riot warned.

**_“You said until midnight,”_** Carrion growled, tempted to throw a screwdriver at him out of spite, but not sure they would protect Peter’s body from the blow. **_“It’s barely dark out.”_**

“I am hungry,” the older symbiote grumbled. “This should be a simple task.”

**_“If it were simple you would have done it yourself,”_** in truth Carrion was struggling with the timescale they had been given. The technology was simple enough for them, but it was too simple. Trying to work out how the humans were using such basic systems to make what should by necessity be such a complex machine work was a challenge, one that they might have enjoyed in different circumstances. The safety features they were familiar with from ships used by other species the symbiotes inhabited were just not present here.

“Rude,” Riot complained, “If you are rude again I might have a snack, child… maybe a tongue? So this child cannot be rude to anyone as you were rude to me?”

Carrion cast their eyes down, back to their task. They knew Riot would if they tried to argue or complain.

“That’s better,” Riot relaxed back in the hammock. “Friday, how about some motivational music for our hard worker?”

Riot had been playing with the capabilities of the suit intermittently throughout the day. It reassured Carrion somewhat to know the suit was still functioning. The moment Riot was separated from Peter – if they were ever separated – the boy would be able to escape. Maybe activate the ‘Gone Baby Gone’ protocol Stark had mentioned when he thought they had kidnapped the boy?

The music was not what Carrion would have chosen. Their taste, echoing Skirth’s, was for a more classical fare, but this music was just loud, just noise. Not quite painful, but certainly not pleasant and not motivational.

Despite the music, or maybe because they wanted it to stop so badly, they picked up the pace. Their host would only last so long, and they were already having to carefully take bits of liver to fuel their efforts. Riot might be giving them a couple more hours, but their host might not last that long.

“Well that looks promising,” Riot hopped down from the hammock when all of the lights in the lab suddenly activated about half an hour later, the sound of machines whirring into life surrounding them. The music from the suit stopped. Beyond the windows the machinery surrounding the rocket was also coming to life, lighting up.

* * *

 

Skirth did not fit in the suit Stark had given them, designed as it was for a much taller woman. He had promised her it would keep her safe. It felt cold, hard, uncomfortable. She would give anything to have the warm embrace of her symbiote instead of this clumsy monstrosity.

Venom was beside her, perched on the rooftop. They would remain there, hidden, until the very last moment that they dared. Stark was already airborne, amongst the clouds over the rocket, ready at any moment to attack.

The facility had begun to power up about ten minutes before, and they had almost moved in at that point. Skirth had stopped them all, hoping desperately that Peter might emerge, now that Carrion had completed the task they were needed for. He did not.

Venom would not wait much longer. They were worried, for Carrion as much as for Peter. They feared once Riot had what they wanted they would kill them both. They did, admittedly, have a valid reason to worry.

Skirth capitulated only when the rocket itself appeared to be activating. There was still no sign of movement from within the compound. It seemed it was now or never.

Her suit was piloted mostly by Friday. She wouldn’t mind taking a better look at the AI, impressive as it was in its technology, but at another time. It took her down, in through a back entrance to the labs. Venom followed more smoothly through the same window, half their symbiote covering peeling back from Eddie’s face to let their host look around with their own human eye.

“Can you taste them?” Skirth questioned the symbiote, for lack of a better term for the sense they had from their tongue. Venom’s tongue lashed out, nearly two-foot-long, and they raised a hand to point a sharp-tipped tendril towards one of the several doors in the dark room.

**_“Peter is through there,”_** they spoke very quietly, rumbling deep in their chest. Skirth quivered too. She knew where that door led. She was _very_ familiar with it.

“What about the others?”

**_“Further within,”_** Venom moved slowly, treading carefully so as not to make a sound, their feet not feet at all but expansive pads of tendrils so that they all but flowed across the ground. Skirth did her best to hover forwards, knowing the suit would make loud echoing noise on the steel floors.

The lab was not how she remembered it. It was clear that experiments must have continued after she left, and without a symbiote to experiment on the lab had been repurposed. Several of the glass panelled rooms were still completely intact, but others had been replaced with various experiments that needed to be isolated from the external environment. The airlock seals were perfect for so many functions.

Three glass rooms – pods, they had called them – were still as she had left them, including one with a container. In that one was a small figure, huddled in a corner and barely conscious, fighting to keep their eyes open.

“Peter!” Skirth gasped, the suit peeling away without a word of instruction as she rushed to the pod and tried to release him, laying her hand on the sensor. The handprint flashed red; access denied. “Peter, oh God, Peter, are you okay?”

The child looked up at her, bleary eyes squinting. She moved to the side, realising there was a light directly behind her, but it didn’t seem to help. Whatever was wrong with him, he did not seem to be able to focus on her.

“Doctor Skirth, is that…?”

“Yes, Peter, it’s me, oh God…”

He was still squinting, lifting his hands now and looking towards where they were, but his eyes remained unfocused.

“I can’t…” he looked almost towards her, but without sound to guide him and without her figure silhouetted by light his unseeing gaze did not quite look in the correct direction. “You came for me?”

“Yes, Peter,” she assured, looking to Venom who held back, crouched well back. Their expression was almost as devastated as she felt. “Yes, we’re here, you’re safe now…”

“No,” Peter shook his head firmly. “No, you can’t… you can’t get me out of here. If you try to break in it’s rigged to release the gas, you can’t…”

“What gas? Peter…”

“I saw them do it, when they were in me,” Peter pulled his legs closer to his chest, clinging to them. “It’s set to gas me if something bad happens to the rocket, and the lock will only open once the rocket has launched, and Carrion has to be there to do that. If you try and open it before then the gas will be released too. We have to wait.”

“Okay,” Skirth soothed. “Okay, Peter, we’re going to wait then. Carrion will launch the rocket, and then we can get you out right away, and then we can stop the rocket as soon as you’re safe. You’ll see…”

“No, I won’t,” Peter laughed, bitter and horrible, waving his own hand in front of his eyes. “Riot made sure of that too.”

**_“We can fix that,”_** Venom finally spoke, moving forwards. **_“Carrion can fix that, they can heal you, they will.”_**

“They’re not doing so good,” Peter winced. “Riot said… the host Carrey has won’t last much longer. Long enough to launch the rocket, and then they… They have to come in here to let me out. Riot made it that way. They’re going to be hungry, so hungry… Riot said…”

“Carrion would _never_ hurt you,” Skirth assured him. “Even if it killed them, they wouldn’t do it Peter, you’re going to be fine, I promise.”

* * *

 

Every movement was painful.

The barriers were collapsing around them. Their minds were getting weaker. Every bit of strength Carrion used to keep those barriers in place was another bit of energy they had to get from somewhere – from their host. They were in a vicious spiral now, descending further and closer to the death of their host.

Which would mean their death. Outside, Riot was on the rocket. Their warning was clear. If anything happened to the rocket, Peter would die. And Peter was the only possible host in the facility, now that Riot had abandoned their body in one of the containment cells and had exchanged it for a security guard they had kept locked in the cell for this purpose. If Carrion betrayed them, they would both die.

The benefits of compliance were also clear. If Riot left this world safely aboard the rocket, Peter could live. Carrion could live. If Riot kept their word, they might even have the century they were promised upon this world with those they loved.

But first the rocket had to launch, and Carrion was struggling. This system was set up for far more than just them, they needed more.

They had so many tendrils, so many hands, but they were only able to process so much sensory input at one time, read so many screens at once. Even one other person would be helpful.

“Carrey…”

They spun, tendrils whipping around and nearly knocking over chairs and computers, freezing as they saw her.

**_“You shouldn’t be here…”_ **

“Peter told us,” Skirth walked brazenly into the room, looking over the computer screens and to the rocket through the glass beyond. “The rocket launches safely, and we can free him, right?”

**_“Yes,”_** Carrion turned back to their task. They didn’t have long.

“How can we help?”

Carrion stilled, glancing round again. **_“Help? If you help, you’re betraying your species.”_**

“Yeah well,” Skirth snorted, starting to press buttons on the computer she had taken control of. “We are a perfect match, Carrion. Let me help you.”

**_“And me, boss,”_** Venom had held back, reluctant, but slinked into the room now, spreading themselves thinly across four computers, Eddie controlling the equivalent of two hands and Venom the others. **_“Tell me what you need.”_**

**_“I…”_** Carrion looked back to the rocket, suppressing the internal rage of their host, back to the computers, seeing the controls finally working together. They began their launch sequence, tendrils flying across the keys. **_“I don’t know what to say…”_**

“I mean, an ‘I’m sorry for leaving without saying goodbye’ would be nice,” Skirth complained. “But that can wait. Let’s betray humankind to save a kid first, we can catch up later.”

Outside the rocket’s engines began to hum, and then to light, the heat coming off them in waves and battering the glass panels, the room warming enough that the symbiote could taste the difference with their tongue. Their host was shaking uncontrollably now, multiple body systems going in to organ failure. They forced the heart to beat, the lungs to breathe. A little longer, just a little more…

The rocket began to lift, imperceptibly for a moment and then more quickly the towers on either side folding back from its wings just in time to allow it to be freed to launch, upwards and gaining speed rapidly.

Carrion stumbled, knees buckling, catching themself on the computer table. Skirth’s shocked exclamation behind them had them look immediately to the rocket, but the ship still peeled upwards unhindered. Their beloved’s hands caught their human-shaped shoulders, trying to support them, trying to help them back to their feet.

“Carrey, you have to move, leave them, come back in to me,” Skirth tried to convince them. Carrion could barely hear them; they were not focusing on keeping this host’s ears functional, after all. “Carrey, please…”

**_“Can’t,”_** they bit out, gratefully using Skirth’s shoulder as a crutch as they turned and tried to stagger, stumbling, towards the lab. **_“This body… to unlock… the cell.”_**

**_“I’ll help,”_** Venom wrapped around them, symbiote coated in symbiote, supporting them through to the panel in front of Peter’s prison. Skirth guided their palm to the control panel, the first of the doors opening. Carrion staggered through, slumping against the wall as the first door closed.

“Peter, you have to help,” Skirth demanded, calling to the boy. “Peter, Carrey can’t get to you, you need to…”

The second door had started to open slowly, the opposite side of the room to Peter. The boy superhero was still curled up in the corner, a look of fear painting his features.

“They’ll eat me,” he spoke in barely a whisper, terrified. “Riot said…”

“Riot lied,” Skirth swore. “Riot lied to you, Peter, Carrion would never hurt you, you know this, please Peter…”

Carrion growled, the noise turning to a long and drawn out groan from their host, the body taking a breath, and then once more, shuddering and desperate.

Carrion leeched out of the host, tendrils clawing across the floor. Gone was their vibrant amber colour, instead the shade of rust – sickly and fading still, unable to reach out, unable to get to the child in the corner.

“Peter,” Skirth could feel the tears in her eyes. There was nothing she could do, nothing that could be done, except to beg a terrified child. “Peter, please…”


	23. Heroes

Stark had all of his blasters charged before the ship broke through the clouds, magnetising the suit so that he did not have to use the repulsors to follow it skywards, holding fire until he received the signal, or until it was getting too far away. The others were meant to tell him as soon as Peter was safe, as soon as he could fire.

He shouldn’t be in this position. He shouldn’t be the one who had to do this, make this choice. He was Tony Stark, ex-merchant of death. He should not be the one the fate of the entire world rested upon.

He was Iron Man. He’d done that to himself. It had been a thrill at first, back in the early days. He had wanted to be that person, the one who the world would turn to when they needed someone. It had suited his arrogant nature perfectly.

That bubble burst with the invasion of New York by aliens so many years ago. He had realised the responsibility that came with the identity he had made for himself. He had thrown himself behind it, reluctantly perhaps but with determination. He could make the tough calls, he could suffer if it meant the world were safe.

But he was also the mentor of Peter Parker, the boy who was _fifteen years old._ Fifteen. A child. If he made one wrong move, if he fired his blasters too early, if the boy wasn’t safe… Peter could die. And that would be on him. His fault. His doing.

He couldn’t make that call.

He had to make it. Soon. Before the ship could go where he could not follow.

“Friday, anything?”

“Nothing, Mister Stark,” the AI sounded as sorrowful as he felt. His heart got stuck, a lump in his throat. He couldn’t so much as blink. The ship was starting to pull away from him, the repulsors and the magnetic draw not enough to keep him close. The air was getting thin.

Stark was shaking, panting in a way that had nothing to do with the thin air surrounding the suit. The inside was pressurised and had plenty of oxygen. No, this was all him, his weakness. His cross to bear.

Peter Parker’s innocent face, his foolish naiveite, his bright and happy personality, they flashed in front of unseeing eyes as he contemplated firing the weapons, taking down the ship.

Still nothing.

He closed his fists, the power diverting immediately from the blasters to the foot repulsors and he spun in mid-air, shooting down and out of the sky.

When Riot returned, he would be ready. The world would be ready. But Peter Parker only had one life, and he was going to save it.

* * *

 

“Peter…” the boy lifted his head, unseeing eyes looking straight ahead but somehow right at Carrion, trembling. Skirth looked to Venom and Eddie for help. “Peter, you have to…”

**_“Spiderman,”_** Venom spoke firmly, with the force of a military commander. **_“They are dying._** **_They need you to help them.”_**

The trembling stopped. Just like that, Peter was still, and then moving, launching forwards, hands reaching out. Carrion’s tendrils met him in mid-air, wrapping tightly around him and tangling as they dove beneath the skin, his eyes immediately coated with amber and then fading, Peter blinking away the dryness the symbiote left behind.

“Venom, break the glass,” Peter demanded, Carrion rapidly encasing them. **_“We’ll be fine like this.”_**

Venom tried, striking the glass with tremendous force, but it was not enough. Eddie turned them to snatch a fire extinguisher from the wall, using it as a battering ram to shatter through.

Gas poured out, leaving a vile taste in Skirth’s mouth but it dissipated very quickly into the larger room, designed only to fill the one cell. She coughed anyway, and found herself snatched up off her feet by Carrion, carried through to the rocket’s control room and the door slammed behind them.

She could feel them, sinking through into her skin. Peter was still holding her up, his strength greater than that of a normal human, but Carrion snatched them out of his hands almost immediately, surrounding her.

**_I have missed you,_** the symbiote purred in her mind, the contentment they both felt consumed by the symbiote’s sense of urgency.

_What are you doing?_ Skirth questioned as Carrion began pushing buttons, hurried. The computers were still connected to the ship, but the signal was weaker by the moment, patchy as they glanced at the readings on the screen – thirty percent but dropping.

**_We are a perfect match, doctor,_** they grinned, looking to the clouds, the tunnel the rocket had left.

_Betraying them,_ Skirth realised, astonished, seeing what Carrion had done in their entwining mind, their new memories taking a moment to join with hers. _You’re going to blow the ship?_

**_We don’t have long,_** they warned. **_Is Stark clear?_**

The screen was showing red, ten percent, with a single button in the centre ready for Carrion to push, ready to activate a self-destruction mechanism that had been installed for the original mission to the stars, in case the symbiotes proved to be too dangerous to bring back to Earth. It was about to be used for its original purpose, but it would only work if the signal could reach the ship, and Carrion was not sure how long that would last. They had not worked to repair its communications circuits. They were relying on hope and sheer luck at this point.

“Peter, ask Friday where Stark is?” Skirth frantically questioned, not waiting for the others to catch up and work out what they were doing.

**_No time,_** Carrion hit the button as the signal strength hit five percent, looking to the clouds.

There was a moment, no longer than a few seconds though it felt like forever, when nothing happened. The clouds remained, undisturbed, overhead. They blocked their view of the rocket, of anything.

And then the clouds turned red.

The sky bled, the clouds burning away, swallowing the worst of the wave of heat from the explosion as the rocket’s engines detonated, imploded. The clouds finally burned away, the last flashes of flame breaking through and then the wave of force and heat, setting off alarms throughout the nearby city and shaking the glass in the Life Foundation building. The heat was not enough to set the surrounding area aflame, but enough to be uncomfortable, to make every breath just a little too hot and dry, like in a desert.

“Mister Stark?” Peter’s desperate voice nearly failed him as he choked on the hot air. “Mister Stark, can you hear me? Mister Stark are you okay?”

**_I had to._ **

Skirth felt the sorrow from her symbiote, the immediate horror at what they might have done. To blow up the rocket, to stop the invasion of this world by their kind, to stop Riot… it was necessary. They would not change it but… they had, after all that, hurt the child. If Stark were anywhere near the rocket when it had exploded, he could not have survived, the force of the explosion too great even for his suit.

**_“There!”_** Venom raced from the room, through the broken window and into the distance, to the edge of the ocean and leapt, surrounding what human eyes could only see at this distance as a speck over the water, falling fast.

There was no sign of power from Stark’s suit, nothing coming through Peter’s communicator despite his frantic attempts to contact his mentor. Anything that had taken the power from the suit was surely enough to hurt if not kill the man within. Venom was racing back towards them, until in seconds they were laying the suited man at Skirth’s feet.

**_“He’s alive,”_** Venom sounded certain, tongue lashing out to detect what they could despite the suit in the way. Several panels were missing, the skin beneath burned and blackened, the bottom half of a leg entirely missing. Stark appeared to be unconscious, and it was a blessing. If he had been awake he would have been in agony. **_“We can fix him, Carrion, you can…”_**

**_I can’t,_** Carrion’s sorrow had tears springing to Skirth’s own eyes. **_I can’t, I’m not strong enough, I don’t have enough energy._**

“We can’t,” Skirth knelt beside Stark’s unconscious body, not sure where to begin. She was not a medical doctor, but even if she was, what could she have done for him? It was a wonder he was even alive, and she wasn’t certain he would remain that way. All they could do was get him to a hospital. “We don’t have the strength.”

“You have to do something,” Peter’s voice was choked with tears as he dropped to his knees beside her, grasping Stark’s still suited hand in both of his. “There has to be something, please…”

**_Venom,_** Carrion prompted Skirth tiredly. **_They could… try. We have taught them enough. It might not work but…_**

“Venom,” Skirth looked to him. “Can you heal him?”

“Please, please try,” Peter sniffed, doing his best not to sob. “Please…”

**_“I…”_** Venom hesitated. **_“I don’t… I’m still training… I can try?”_**

The symbiote reached down, elongating from Eddie’s hands and weaving through the gaps left by the torn off panels of the suit, sinking through Stark’s skin.

“Peter,” Eddie immediately opened his arms. The boy dove into them, hugged tightly to the older man’s chest. “No matter what happens, we’ve got you. You’ll be alright, we’ll look after you.”

**_He shouldn’t see this,_** Carrion whispered to her, even that a great effort. **_If Venom fails, the boy should not see his father die._**

Skirth had no reason to bother correcting Carrion; Stark might not be Peter’s biological father, but the way he treated him he might as well be, and they were right. But they did not want to leave Stark either, and so they looked to Peter with pity.

“I hope we can bring him home to you,” she told him softly. “And I’m sorry for this, but… Friday, activate Gone Baby Gone protocol.”

“No, Friday, don’t!” Peter yelped as his limbs were taken out of his control, the suit powering up with a faint blue light and carrying him out of the building on strands of webbing. “Friday, no, no, I have to stay…”

“Where will it take him?” Eddie frowned.

“No idea, hopefully just back to the nearest Stark Industries building,” Skirth shrugged, suddenly wondering what would happen if the suit tried to take him all the way back to his home – where had those tickets in his wallet been from? New York? Halfway across the country… that wouldn’t be great. Still, hopefully, if the suit did try to do that, Stark might be able to stop it. Hopefully.

**_This is taking too long,_** Carrion fretted, looking through Skirth’s eyes over Stark. There were no changes yet, no healing visible. **_He must have been injured internally as well, Venom doesn’t have the strength yet to deal with all this…_**

_They have to,_ Skirth resolved. _Just trust them, Carrey. They learned from the best._

**_They learned from me._ **

_Exactly. The best. Look…_

Stark’s lost leg was still a burned stump, but that stump was beginning to extend, beyond the edge of the suit and to grow. The burns on his skin were coated with Venom’s inky black tendrils, weaving and sinking in and out of the skin like the most intricate form of knitting they could ever imagine. The wounds were healing, slowly but they were, until at last the man took a huge heaving breath and jolted upright.

“Hey,” Eddie caught his shoulders, stopping him from scrambling backwards. Stark’s eyes were blown wide, he was gasping for air, but he was alright. The panic settled slowly, his focus returning.

“We won?” he questioned after a while. Eddie and Skirth smiled and nodded. “Okay… that’s good… uhm…”

He began to laugh, humourless and hysterical, until he doubled over and pounded his fist on the ground. The two other humans glanced at one another, confused, letting him work through whatever was going through his head.

“Alright, defeated an alien invasion,” he finally spoke as the laughter eased. “I guess it’s customary now to go get shawarma?”

**_“How about sheep?”_** Venom asked them from their shoulder. Stark yelped, throwing themselves backwards but caught by Eddie, who quickly scolded Venom for frightening the man. **_“I am hungry, Eddie!”_**

“Come back here,” Eddie demanded, reaching out to Venom’s tendrils. The alien sank beneath Stark’s skin belligerently. “Venom?”

“They said they’re too hungry,” Stark grumbled, frowning. “You’re not hanging out in me for any longer than you absolutely have to, you got that E.T.?”

“The lab used to keep animals for the experiments…” Skirth began, but had to stop when it was obvious Stark and Venom’s argument was not over.

“I know I call them E.T. but I just almost died, give me a break, I’ll think of a different name for you when I don’t feel like I could eat a horse… no, we’re not eating a horse!”

“Venom?” Skirth questioned, prodding Stark’s newly healed leg to get their attention. “Food?”

**_Yes,_** Carrion confirmed within her. **_Now, please. Leave them if they won’t come._**

“Well I’m getting something,” Skirth told them, leaving them to argue. It didn’t take long for them to follow, Eddie coming with them as well.

In the grounds of the Life Foundation they had a breeding shed for animals they used for their experiments. No sheep, unfortunately for Venom, but there were pigs. The biology of a pig had enough metabolic similarities to that of a human to be especially useful in some of the trials they had been performing at the facility. These animals were going to be taken away in coming days as the building was cleared out, but for now they remained with plenty of food and water. They were not the priority of the police and military’s raids.

Stark had vomited several times after Venom consumed one of them whilst still bonded to him as host, Venom shifting back into Eddie after that with a roll of Eddie’s eyes. The once journalist grinned as the symbiote encased him, not minding their diet at all.

Skirth and Carrion struggled at first. Carrion was so weak that they struggled to take form enough to eat, Skirth demanding that they do whatever they needed to do to get the strength. A few seconds of abdominal pain told her that Carrion had done what they needed to and taken that strength from her, perhaps absorbing some of her spleen as they had once before suggested they might have to do in a desperate situation. Any injury was healed as soon as they had devoured the first of their meals whole.

“What now?” Eddie was the one who asked the question once they were all suitably fed, looking to Stark. The Avenger had waited for them outside, unable to go anywhere with his suit out of commission.

“Where’s the kid?” Stark sounded desperate, mournful. He was staring at the horizon, not looking at either of them. “Did you find him?”

“Oh,” Skirth realised what he must have been thinking whilst they so thoughtlessly didn’t tell him. He had not seen that Peter was alive, that he was physically if not psychologically alright after his ordeal. What must he have been picturing? “Yes, we found him, he’s safe, we activated the protocol like you said.”

“He’s at the tower?” Stark’s whole demeanour changed, the stillness gone. He was on his feet, marching purposefully in the direction of San Francisco. “I thought… it doesn’t matter, how quickly can you get us back there?”

“We’ll take him,” Eddie offered. “Would you pick up some pancake mix on the way? Kid needs a treat.”

“Two orders of shawarma and pancakes,” Skirth grinned, winking at Stark. “No problem. Well, it is Avengers tradition.”

The familiar sensation of Carrion encasing her had never felt so warm and welcome.


	24. Chapter 24

There had been tears, hidden by an embarrassed teenager with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball, until Stark had rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder and he had cracked.

Stark wasn’t all that familiar with dealing with emotion. That much was obvious in the awkward way his arms stuck out at his sides, scarecrow like, when Peter threw himself at his mentor and dragged him into an unbreakable hug. Only when they heard a crack, possibly a rib, and Stark doubled over did he let go, apologising repeatedly and losing control of his tears, turning to ugly sobs.

Venom had quickly fixed the damage done, pulling back into Eddie with a little smile. They gave the pair some space while Stark mixed up a lecture on the boy having come to San Francisco in the first place with praise about how brave he had been and how worried Stark had been. The jumbled mess was nearly incoherent, but it hardly mattered, because Peter was talking at the same time, rambling about how he had tried to stay at the tower but Riot had taken him away and how they were sorry for worrying their mentor so badly.

Skirth had entered warily, not sure what to expect, but as soon as she saw that they were not arguing she beamed, interrupting loudly and unpacking a huge quantity of food onto the kitchen counter, helped by Carrion’s tendrils. The two Avengers took the chance to pull themselves together, happy not to have to address the way they had acted only minutes before to snipe like father and son over who would get to make – and importantly flip – the pancakes after they finished their shawarma.

**_We are exhausted._ **

Skirth had heard their symbiote complain of hunger many times before, but tiredness was something far more human. Symbiotes did not sleep, not in the human sense. They could quiet their minds, perhaps similar to meditation. Skirth couldn’t be sure, since she had never been able to shut off her constantly active thoughts whilst awake. _Are you alright?_

**_We, darling,_** Carrion reassured her, letting her feel the emotional and physical exhaustion of their body for the first time since they had reconnected. **_We should rest._**

_Good idea,_ Skirth had to agree. _Think Stark wouldn’t mind us using the same room as last night?_

“Hey,” the hero interrupted them as they headed for the door. “Where do you think you’re going?”

**_Maybe not then,_** Carrion huffed, crossing Skirth’s arms for them ready for an argument. **_Really, we’re not useful any more so he’s going to kick us out?_**

“To sleep,” Skirth challenged, also feeling rejected. “Is that a problem?”

“Yeah that’s a problem,” Stark was frowning at them. “Who’s gonna eat all this chocolate otherwise?”

“That’s for the pancakes,” Skirth glanced to Eddie for help, but he looked as puzzled as Stark by their sharp reaction. He was already supervising Peter mixing the first batch of pancake batter, Venom forming an apron over their clothing and a chef’s hat on their head for showmanship.

“We saved the world tonight, we can at least eat together?”

They recognised it for the olive branch it was. Stark hadn’t been comfortable with aliens. He certainly still wasn’t – it would take more than the day of working with them to resolve so many serious issues from his past. His anxiety would not resolve just like that, with a snap of their fingers, but he was trying to recognise them as a part of whatever strange team they had made, facing Riot.

**_“Fine,”_** Carrion agreed, forming a separate head from Skirth’s shoulder and uncrossing their arms. **_“But no blueberries.”_**

“I’d like blueberries,” Skirth argued, for the sake of it, ignoring Carrion as they hissed at her, gnashing their sharp teeth.

“Shawarma?” Eddie offered, proffering a greasy container of fast food. Venom knocked it from his hand, casting it across the floor in a mess. “Hey!”

**_“It’s dead,”_** Venom argued, sticking their long tongue out at him childishly.

“I eat what you like,” Eddie sulked until Skirth shoved an extra portion to him.

“Do you always have to eat live stuff?” Peter questioned enthusiastically as he waited impatiently for the first of the pancakes to be ready to flip. “Could you just eat chocolate?”

**_“Chocolate would not be enough,”_** Carrion looked to Skirth. **_“We could get that lab now? Do some experiments, find some alternatives?”_**

“I’m not sure we need a lab,” Skirth grinned, reaching up to stroke an open palm over the symbiote’s tendrils. “We just need to try different foods until we find something you like.”

**_“But we can still do it scientifically, find the actual chemicals involved,”_** Carrion was already thinking for them, working out some experimental procedures as they talked. **_“We would only have two subjects, so for everything Venom would have to be the control group…”_**

They began to expound on the relative disadvantages of Earth experimental methodology, on the differences in technology between species and the methods of the symbiotes. They lectured in a monologue about the liquid they crafted to contain the young symbiotes, those not ready to control a host body, and its constituents. Skirth had thought she was the only one listening until Venom had chipped in with intelligent questions, and Stark had addressed the more practical aspects of setting up some of the more advanced technologies Carrion described in his own labs.

Peter managed to flip pancakes without too much mess – he only missed the pan with two, and both of those were because Stark had managed to distract him at the last moment. Friday had turned on the news halfway through their meal, insisted on putting through a call from a woman Stark referred to as Pepper, and they had to listen to her yell at him for a few minutes before he finally got a word in edgeways. He told her he was not impressed that she was embarrassing him in front of the aliens, and her only response to that was to demand to speak with Skirth and Carrion. Apparently, according to Pepper, as a fellow woman they should have more common sense than to drag ‘Tony’ into situations involving aliens and the end of the world.

The news showed footage of the moments after the rocket had exploded, the sky lit by flame. They were confused how Pepper had even made the connection to Stark, at least until one of the camera views zoomed in on him falling from the sky and being caught by the symbiote shape of Venom, and again when Venom left the building carrying the superhero. The news reporters speculated wildly about what they were seeing, whether Stark might now be being held hostage by aliens, whether the world was in danger.

“Pepper, can you deal with this?” Stark pleaded. “Call a press conference tomorrow, fine, but not tonight, please Pepper? You know you’re the absolute best, I’ll give you a bonus if you can fix this.”

“Tony…” Pepper’s long-suffering sigh was heavy and drawn out. “Okay, but if the aliens are on our side can they at least be there? It would help save a lot of panic.”

**_“We can be there,”_** Carrion promised. **_“Venom can speak at the conference for our species.”_**

**_“Why me?”_ **

**_“It’s public speaking and your host is literally a journalist,”_** Carrion reminded them. **_“Besides, we get anxiety when we’re on camera.”_**

“I did say I would try to help to announce symbiotes to the world, even before we were together,” Eddie pointed out to Venom. “It’s the least we can do.”

“Great, and Tony? Get the kid home!”

* * *

 

Skirth needed to sleep, but with Carrion’s strength to support them she would not turn down the opportunity for a hot shower before bed. The fall of water was soothing, the brush of her symbiote’s tendrils over her skin as they washed the shower gel away comforting, assuring them that they were together, that they would never again be forced to part.

**_They say partners should never go to bed angry,_** Carrion prompted her as they left the shower, wrapping a towel around their body.

_I don’t have the energy to talk about this now,_ Skirth laid them down on the bed, glad for the support it provided to tired muscles. It was the same bed as the night before, but where then she had been unable to find rest or comfort, it now felt like the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in.

**_You need to. We need to._ **

_I…_ Skirth sighed, closing her eyes. _We’re really going to do this now?_

**_We should._ **

_Then… you know why I’m still upset. You left, Carrey. You didn’t even say goodbye._

Her symbiote wrapped around her, lifting them from the bed so that they could act as a warm body pillow for her to lay on whilst their arms wrapped around her over the towel.

**_“I didn’t have to. I always planned to come back.”_ **

“You can’t have known…” that you would be safe? That the plan would work?

**_“Well, I’ll admit it didn’t go exactly to plan, but,”_** they chuckled nervously. **_“It would have worked, even if you hadn’t come for me, my magnificent heroic darling.”_**

“Oh no, I’m not letting you sweet talk your way out of this one,” Skirth slapped gently at the tendril-formed arms. “If you had a plan you could have told me.”

**_“But then it wouldn’t have been a glorious reunion when I came back,”_** Carrion moved over them, pressing their back down to the bed and immobilising them there. **_“And then you wouldn’t have let me do this.”_**

Their long tongue wrapped around her jawline as Carrion leaned in for a kiss, keeping their symbiote shape and just being very careful with their teeth not to cut her, their tongue extending into their mouth and fading into their body before it could cause them to gag. Skirth wanted to be angry, to continue to tell them off for making her worry, but she was caught up in the kiss. Besides, with the symbiote so content and happy within her, it was difficult to remain annoyed.

“Love you,” she managed between kisses.

**_“Hmm?”_** Carrion tipped their head to the side.

“I said I love you, even though you are a ridiculous manipulative alien parasite,” she softened the insulting words with a scattering of kisses, grinning when the symbiote growled at her. “That’s still hot.”

Carrion laughed, long tongue laving from her collar bone, along the arch of her throat and up to her ear lobe, drawing it between their sharp teeth and nipping even as Skirth tipped their head to give them better access. They growled low in their chest, delighting in her gasp.

**_“I thought we were tired?”_** they teased, a whisper in her ear.

“Don’t make me turn you to goo,” Skirth threatened, laving her tongue over the closest tendril she could reach.

**_“I have a better idea,”_** Carrion grinned, winking, and sank beneath her skin.

For a long moment nothing happened and Skirth felt bereft, cold and alone. “Carrey?”

A rush of sensation, sparking through her nerve endings seemingly without any trigger, jolted through her from the tips of her hair to the ends of her toes, and she yelped loudly, sitting up sharply. “Fuck Carrey!”

**_Relax,_** Carrion laughed, **_If I just…_**

Another rush, less sharp this time, and focused. Tingling, pleasant and focused, encompassing only the skin of her arm and simulating a caress. A second, more confidently applied, this time not sensation but just that feeling that should come with it.

**_This is fascinating,_** Carrion regarded, sounding strangely professional and detached. **_For such a complex creature, your nervous system is rather simple…_**

_Carrey, are you actually… oh God!_ Skirth squirmed as the symbiote activated something else within her, something that had her writhing on the bed with need. _I am not a lab experiment!_

**_You don’t need to lie to me love,_** Carrion laughed, carefully releasing a rush of endorphins in her host. **_You are enjoying this_ immensely. **

Skirth had to bite down on her lip, hard, trying not to yell out as every muscle in her body tensed, quivering on the edge of an orgasm that her symbiote would not permit her to release. _Artificial… Carrey, fuck, it doesn’t feel right, let me see you, let me…_

**_But Doctor, think of the possibilities,_** Carrion rose out of her chest, a shapeless formless mass of amber tendrils, reaching out and coating her body. The encompassing warmth soothed her as quickly as Carrion sparked those nerve endings again, making her quiver. **_How many times do you think you can come this way?_**

_Oh fuck…_ Skirth’s eyes widened as Carrion lifted their head from her chest, grinning down at her, sharp toothed and far too pleased with themselves as they triggered her orgasm without laying a single finger upon her. _Carrey!_

**_“I think we should experiment, don’t you?”_** Carrion kissed her, and she caught their head to pull them closer, trying to regain some control through the kiss. Carrion laughed against their lips, easily dominating. **_“That was one…”_**

* * *

 

“You know, you could come stay at the Avengers compound,” Stark was offering Peter over breakfast the next morning. “You’d learn more there than at school anyway, you could learn science from the best – me, naturally – and we could always get tutors in for the boring stuff.”

“Really?” Peter looked excited. “Does that mean I’d be an Avenger?”

“Well, the friendly neighbourhood spider kid thing doesn’t seem to be working out,” Stark shrugged. “How else am I meant to keep you out of trouble?”

“What about my aunt though?”

“Well, she could come visit sometimes. She seemed pretty chill when I met her. Besides, she’s clearly not a responsible guardian. Going on a ski holiday whilst you galivant across the country searching for aliens?”

**_“Does your aunt know you are here?”_** Carrion interjected. They had been pouring Skirth’s morning coffee, blending into the background.

“Well, no,” Peter looked embarrassed. “My aunt doesn’t know I’m Spiderman…”

**_“Because they are an incompetent parental figure or because you are a disobedient child?”_ **

“I… guess the second?” he was sheepish, sinking down into his chair a little. Carrion sniffed, formed a full torso and crossed her arms, managing even with symbiote features to pull off a disappointed parent expression.

**_“And I thought you were such a nice boy,”_** they huffed, keeping that pose whilst Skirth carried on making their breakfast.

“We could announce it today at the press conference,” Stark continued, unashamed. “Another new Avenger might be enough to soften the blow when we announce there are new aliens in the world, and try to convince people that they’re friendly. Even though the public saw them eating people on the news…”

**_“Bad people,”_** Venom interjected. **_“We don’t eat good people.”_**

“That’s right dear,” Eddie praised his symbiote.

“No, no,” Stark waved his cereal spoon in Venom’s face. “No more eating people. I’m buying you both a farm, and Carrion you’ll get your lab, find some better alternatives.”

Venom bit the end off the spoon, teeth grazing Stark’s knuckles.

“That wasn’t nice!” Eddie scolded, carelessly grabbing his symbiote’s extended face and pulling it back to over his shoulder. “Apologise to Mister Stark!”

**_“No.”_ **

“Apologise!”

**_“Venom,”_** Carrion interjected. The other symbiote reeled, eyes widening at their stern tone, before they hung their head in shame.

**_“We’re sorry Mister Stark,”_** Venom managed to keep up the contrite act until Carrion was looking away, then stuck out his tongue at the billionaire.

“You’re going to have to behave better than this at the press conference,” Eddie reminded them.

“If you do become an Avenger your first job is going to be getting these four under control,” Stark told Peter as an aside. “Between you and me, you’ve got them eating out of your palm. If you pretend to be upset every time they do something they shouldn’t be doing, you’ll have them trained in no time.”

“They’re not like stray dogs Mister Stark,” Peter laughed, speaking too loudly so Carrion heard and flicked a few already damp cornflakes at the hero’s head.

**_The boy should come with us,_** Carrion suggested internally to Skirth. **_His care givers have been insufficient to protect him. We could protect him._**

_Not to mention get him counselling,_ Skirth suggested. Though the boy seemed to be coping well outwardly, there was a difference in his expression when he thought he was not being watched. The innocence was tainted, scars left from his ordeal the previous days, kidnapped, unable to control his own body, at Riot’s mercy, injured and traumatised. _Maybe he needs some time at home though, away from all this superhero stuff. Maybe he’s learned his lesson?_

“You need to spend some time at the Avengers facility anyway so that I can show you how to use the suit properly,” Stark was telling him as they spoke separately. “It’s about time I took off the training wheels protocol.”

“What do you mean, training wheels protocol?”

“Ooh boy, why don’t you go get the suit and I can show you?” Stark rolled his eyes as Peter leapt up, tugging his Iron Man onesie off and revealing that he had been wearing the suit underneath it all this time. “Friday, why don’t we start with the web tutorial?”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Peter listened to the suit speak to him for a few moments but seemed unable to stop his excitement, bouncing in his seat and eventually as he shot the first of the new webs becoming attached, upside down, to the ceiling. “Five hundred and seventy-six settings? Oh my gosh, Mister Stark this is amazing!”

* * *

 

Carrion and Skirth were humming along with some peaceful orchestral music, waiting for their latest experiment to finish its distillation process before they could do the next step, when Stark’s voice came through the lab’s speakers.

“Hey, E.T., bring Stitch and their dork and get over here fast, we’ve got guys from space trying to steal a necklace from a wizard!”

**_“Very funny Stark,”_** Carrion huffed, not moving from their chair. They still remembered that time Stark had called them all in for a rogue Asgardian attacking New Orleans, only to find out it was a drill to see how quickly they could respond from a distance. None of them had been impressed – well, except Peter, who had taken the chance for a week’s holiday, including dragging the symbiotes on a tour of the swamps to wrestle crocodiles.

“No, really,” they could hear Stark’s repulsors in the background. Friday projected his view from the suit of what was happening – there was an actual spaceship, and was that…?

**_“Peter’s there! We thought he was on a school trip!”_** they were on their feet, rushing to get Venom and Eddie before Stark could say another word. **_“Why is Peter always there? Get the wizard to make another of those portal things!”_**

These aliens wouldn’t know what hit them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading this story. This was meant to be a short story, a bit of self indulgence... didn't intend for it to be 70,000 words. That's book length! I clearly have no self control whatsoever. Worth it though!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos make a writer's day and let them know you want them to continue. I would be thrilled to hear what you think so far.


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